Ghana

The next day I went on the canopy walk in the jungle at the Kakum National Park ,one of West Africa's surviving tropical rain forests We passed through many small town and villages all of which appeared very poor. Sanitation is almost non existent and people use the ground .

We arrived at the park and were told it was a steep climb to the canopy walk over a rough trail. There were some big steps and our ranger ignominiously piggy backed me up the last 10 steps!! (No picture!)The canopy was no problem and I have some nice pictures of that. A ranger helped me back down the hill. He said that I had now beaten his record for the age of a person making this hike!! We also got a short lecture on the many medicinal and other uses of the trees.

In the afternoon after lunch we had another concert and dance show by the village people. They used the same dances as we had seen at the workshop but they appeared much more authentic as this group was obviously not professional.

Yesterday we went to the village of Nzulezo which is a fishing village built on stilts on a large lake. We got there by about an hours' canoe ride. About 400 people live here using the fish from a lake for food, drinking the water, using it for a bathroom and washing their clothes in it . After another canoe ride back. we had lunch at a house on the beach , and then drove back to Takoradi through a rubber plantation and along the shore line lined with tall palm trees.

Tonight we sailed out of Takoradi to the cheers and wavings of all on the dock. Evidently this was a big deal for this small city as we are apparently one of the very few ships with passengers to sail in here. Our Dean, Archbishop Tutu and 5 students were greeted by the king in a special ceremony awarding the Archbishop some special award/ The pictures we saw reminded me of a National Geographic article showing the Queen and Prince Philip visiting some of the colonies!. It was all over the TV and newspapers here.

At the post port discussion group the overall feeling was that the people of Ghana are wonderful ,friendly, unbelievably hospitable and go way out of their way to be nice. An exception to this was in the market place where some people felt some discomfort because they felt that they stood out as being so different and were not entirely welcome. Also the fishing village women obviously did not want strangers marching through their home ( We could hardly blame them for this because even though someone was paid for this, it probably was not the women)

One of our lifelong learners' daughter was on the spring SAS trip and found out about children ,whose mothers are unable to supper them, who are sold as slaves, Young children are sold for $10. to fishermen,. who use the boys to dive into the water for fish This is very dangerous because the vegetation in the water catches and drowns or injures hem .The girls are used for sex and other services. They are worked 16 hours a day and many die. This,plus the tales we heard last year about the electronic dump workers , makes life for many people here very difficult.

I think LLL's are much more involved in service projects on this trip than last year.The parents organized a service trip to the area to help with the orphanage which is trying to get the slave children back and take care of them. They will continue to support them if possible. Another group of LLL's and students put in a water treatment plant at a village.

There is a different feeling on this ship. All of a sudden people are faced with the realities of what three quarters of the worlds experiences every day.

Sunday-Feb. 17.,2010
Back to the ship. I stayed in my cabin for the next two days trying to get rid of my cold which has now turned, as usual, into bronchitis. I got some antibiotics from the clinic and hope they work. We sail tomorrow for Ghana, stopping at Los Palmas in the Canary Islands for fuel. We won't be able go ashore which is too bad. The Canary Islands are a great European holiday resort which my father came to often.. I would have liked to have seen them.

I got the chance to get to know some of the LLLs a little better. Some of them have had some interesting occupations. One was chief of staff for a congressional committee and another was a secret service agent assigned to the presidential details of Reagan, Ford and Clinton. His wife, another secret service agent works on board as student security. An orthopedist, several people with their own businesses etc. All of them interesting and no kooks. The community is beginning to come together as it did last time and groups are begining to form.
I went to my classes but otherwise stayed pretty much in my cabin.

Spring Alums: We have at last found out why they keep the air conditioning so cold. It is to keep the mold down. That is also why they clean so thoroghly each day. We have the daily meeting in the faculty lounge, but because there are so many of us, it just seems as if we were socializing. Faculty is also there. Not like last time when we were in a corner and felt like you were missing something! Betty is a very knowledgeable and efficient coordinator If she, or Chris, a graduate student in environmental sciences, have a notice or someone has something to say, they take the mike and say it, but it is no big deal. It seems to run smoothly and I like it. The medical staff is much younger than ours and don't socialize as much with us. Deans both nice. David Geis seems to have learned everyones name on the ship!! Our Ghana presort last night was hilarious. The med staff always puts on a song and dance show to a song of "take you malaria meds, use condoms and don't drink too much" They are great. Last night my marine biology prof., Tim Wood, gave a dead pan talk on how to use a pit toilet that had no toilet paper. I wish I had taken my camera for both of those th

ings.

Arrival in Ghana Wed. Sept 22

I had signed up for a Drumming and Dance Workship under the direction of the Afrique Dance Ensemble, a professional and well known group. As I was still suffering from the bronchitis I elected not to participate but just watch. This was a mistake, because even though I enjoyed the music and dance part, not participating is boring. I got some good ..pictures though.

On the drive though Takoradi the poverty is striking. There is not a single house or building that doesn't appear to be in need of repair. In spite of the talks given us by the preport lecturer and student, explaining the history and current progress of the country since independence which sound very positive, the reality is that this is a very poor country in need of a lot.

Thursday

We arrived at noon as expected and the ship was cleared by 2.This is the last day of Ramadan and most places are shut. They thought that there would not be any trouble over the guy who is threatening to burn the Koran, but to keep our eyes open. I went down to the bus to see if I could go on a trip going to Rabat. There were four of us waiting but I was the first and so got on. The others did not.. The drive through Casablanca showed a pretty clean city with, unsurprisingly, white houses. The road to Rabat was flat and the fields on either side dry and bare. Rabat was also not very interesting. A city, and maybe a country, in cultural transition. Old walls and fortresses dating back to the 12th century plus modern buildings. We visited the king's palace,in which he does not live, and the casbah which reminded me of a Cycladic village in Greece, with narrow winding streets and colorful doors. This was a half day trip and we only spent a couple of hours there but it is not a city I would plan on revisiting.

Friday, Sept 10

We left at 8.20 for the four hour trip to Marakesh . As we approached the city, the countryside changed with little Berber villages making their appearance. It was still very dry and red but the fields became less flat and we could see the Atlas Mountains in the distance. The city of Marrakesh reminded me of Santa Fe. All the houses were red. Apparent;y a lot of famous people have houses here which they use occasionally as they do in other trendy places. I am not sure what the attraction is because it is very hot in the summer Our plan was to ride a camel to a Berber house, have lunch and ride back. However we were told that, due to the size of our group (two busloads) we would go by dune buggy and return by camel. My dune buggy driver was a very handsome Arab. Unfortunatly he did not speak Engliish and we both spoke french "un peu} but we didn't know the same words! Lunch was an elaborate affair and we all sat on the floor around round table and dishes were brought and put in the middle. The correct thing to do is eat with your hands, but they decided to give us forks and spoons. We all ate out of the same dish and did not have plates of our own. Food was good, but I am still a meat and potatoes person who does not like new foods so I didn't eat very much. After lunch, there was some dancing and then to the camels. They were smaller than I expected and had quite delicate bones. Their saddles were blankets with a metal handle in the front and rear and no stirups. Th ride was quite painful because ones legs are spread apart and there is nothing to rest your feet on. At one point, the call to prayer came and I tried to take a movie of the camel with that in the background. Too bad it came out blank! I was very glad to get off the camel and found me legs had become numb and I couldn't walk very well!/

Saturday

I developed the first cold which is going around the ship so decided not to go on the mornings' tour. I did go to lunch though as the bus picked me up. After walking for a few minutes through the hot dusty street though I decided that it would not be a good idea to go to the bazaar which I had been looking forward to.and where I had planned to buy some leather things. I went back to the hotel and went to look for a pharmacy. I found one but it was closed. A man came up to me and said he spoke English and could he help me. He wrote down the name of another pharmacy and then asked me for money. I said I had no change but could give him an american dollar. He said $5 and I said no way and walked away. Apparently this type of behavior is not unusual.

Cadiz, Spain

We had our first pre-port tonite, and for Spring alums, you would be interested to know the approach was completely changed. Our Dr. (Chris) and one of the nurses did a very funny flamenco dance to the background on the screen of some cautions and suggestions of things to avoid while on shore, Everybody laughed and I am sure also listened as it was not presented as prohibitions but as cautions, "which we are sure you guys wouldn't do anyway."A much more positive outlook. It would be interesting to see a comparison the results in incidents.

Saturday, Sept 4- We arrived in Cadiz early in the morning. It was was still completely dark at 7.30 am. (I think Spain is a time zone of its own) We cleared the ship be 9.30,. and I went off to the first trip which was advertised as "whale watching" We were immediately told that due to the levant winds (winds from the west, very strong and very dry) we would not be able to go to Tarifa but would instead go to a bay by Gibralter and look at dolphins. I have seen plenty of dolphins in my life but, no matter I would like to see Gibralter. Our guide was a young man with a varied background. His mother Australian, father Scottish. He was born in Hong Kong and lived all over. A bright and engaging young man.We drove through the old part of Cadiz. It has cobbled streets, old and elegant buildings and churches and is charming. The new part is just like any other city. Cadiz is the oldest town on the Iberian Peninsula. On our way out of town we passed through salt marshland farming country and a "white town" built that way as a protection from the heat. We arrived at our research boat in the very commercial town of Alcarzar and set off on a two hour cruise under the Rock of Gibralter.(which I was more interested in than the dolphins). I was also very interested in watching the dynamics of a young family sitting near me. They had two children, ages about 1 and 3. The little girl was being held and kissed by the mother as she fed her a bottle. The little boy had a pacifier but obviously wanted to be held. He knocked the bottle out of the babies mouth. The mother snatched the pacifier from him. Everyone screamed. It was wonderful to watch sibling rivalry develop. It ended with the father taking the baby and the boy repossessing his mother.

Sunday, Sept. 4- Bullfight

This trip was led by Carrie Douglas, a Prof. of anthropology and author of the book" Bulls, Bullfighting and Spanish Identity" We learned that the bulls used for fighting are coddled and receive special treatment and food all their lives until the final 20 minutes of the fight. Bullfights usually take place in conjunction with a fiesta, as did the one we saw. We drove from Cadiz l ½ hours.The drive took us through olive groves, dry pasture land and "white' villages and up a switchedback road to a little village . The bullring was made of stone from the mountains and was built into the side of the hill. It was quite small so we were able to see very clearly and we had front row seats (high enough above the ring so that there ws no danger of the bull jumping over!!)

The bullfight was a "corrida de toros" or the highest form of bullfight. It is very structured and choreographed and divided into three parts. But first comes the parade; the servants on horseback, the three matadors (waving to the crowd) the picadors on padded and blindfolded horses, the bandarillas,short beribboned sticks, carried by men on foot and lastly two mules who will drag the dead bull out of the ring.

After they have paraded around and left, a flourish of trumpets and the bull is let into the ring. He rushes around the ring, charging everything in sight, and the matador stands to the side observing him. He may go out and do a few turns to test him out. Then the picador comes in on his horse carrying a long stick. The bull charges the horse and the picador plunges his stick into the hump of the bull just behind his shoulders to make a mark in just the right place so that the matador can place his final sword. The horse does not get hurt. The bull is then distracted and the bandarillas are placed by two men on foot, who dodge the charging bull and place their mark. The matador now comes in to do his show. Matadores are like rock stars in Spain and are paid equivalently. They are elegantly dressed and perform what can only be seen as a dance with the bull. The purpose is to show how brave and in control of the bull he is, how near to the dangerous bull he can get, and how beautifully he performs by hardly moving his feet but having the bull charge around him. After the bull is tired, the matador will get his sword for the final kill, which is an elegant but powerful thrust to the hump. It is very important at this point that the bull's head be down so that he can reach between the horns for the correct space which will kill the bull by severing his spinal cord and aorta. The bull dies almost instantly. Of course, at any point, something can go wrong and various disasters can occur. This did not occur at this fight.

I was expecting to find all this pretty cruel and repulsive. However, because there seems to be a lot of respect for the bull and a pretty fast death, I did not find it so. The matador is "macho" to the extreme but quite beautiful in their artistry. Bullfights would never be my activity of choice, but seeing this was an educational experienceI am glad I had

Afterward we went to another village and had tappas and wine. Much too late for me, but this is the Spanish experience.We got home at 1 am!

Monday, Sept 6 A day of rest!!

Tuesday Sept. 7

I had made arrangements with our guide of last night to get tickets to the Andalusian horse show in Jerez, a little town near Cadiz. One of the other LLLs, Pat, came with me. We decided, since we really didn't know where we were going, to take a cab in order to be sure that we went to the right place. It cost $50. We also decided that we would recognize the ship and could therefore get back by bus, $3.00!! The Escuela Andaluza de Arte Ecuestre, was a block large collection of buildings with stables, training rings and an indoor show ring. This is the original of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, with the same advanced dressage training, but with Andalusian horses. These are very large animals, probably 18 hands, in perfect condition and very well muscled. They performed for 1½ hours and I think I have some very good pictures which I will send as soon as I can get into my blog again (don't quite know why I can't at the moment and the IT people will not be here till Thursday am). We set sail on Wednesday nite for Casablanca and arrive Thursday at noon. Hope I can post my blog by then.

Thursday am. Got the blog straightened out but unfortuately the videos of the horses and the bullfight will have to wait for a home showing. The band width here will not allow a video and I didn't take any stills of these two events

A2 or

thurs. Sept. 2.2010

I just re-read my first blog posting and saw all the errors I had made. Poor Jim, I didn't mean o call him "combative" I meant "competent." Sorry about that!

We have now changed our way of looking at the day and date from Tuesday, August 31 to A2. Our classes are scheduled on A days and B days ,.. every other day, with gaps for port visits. It won't be long now before I will have no idea of the real day and date.Our time is now changing 1 hour a day forward. It is a little confusing and, as I had been warned by Mary Jean, makes one very tired all day. In addition, both my roommate and I are electronically challenged and are unable to set our alarm to go off at the right time.

All the classes seem to be pretty full of students who, of course, have priority, So I was unable to get into the class I really wanted 'Video Journalism' because it was too full. This was very disappointing as I had counted on it all summer to help with my videos. Guess I will now have to find a class in Salt Lake when I get back. I got into "travel writing "though which may help my descriptive abilities. I am also taking "marine biology", because it would be nice to know something about what we see. The Prof. in this class is very dynamic and enthusiastic and is making even tides and tectonic plates interesting to me.

We have a meeting of the LLLs every night at 5.30 in the faculty lounge during the cocktail hour. With 63 people in our group we pretty much fill it up. It looks as if Desmond Tutu and his wife, Leah, will come to this. I guess he really does want to be called "Arch" !! His wife is a very charming lady who has back problems and prefers to sit. He is totally informal and runs everywhere . and has a great sense of humor. I got a chance to talk with her for a second or two. He sat at our table tonight but it was not possible to take advantage of this and have a conversation because people kept coming up and introducing themselves. It must be tiring to be a celebrity.