Argentina: Dogs at Mass

An email I sent from Argentina, August 2002:

Just as I am typing this, Claudia, our sweet 26-year-old host, came over to say she had heard about Mary, and suggested I go to San Pedro´s, the local church, to light a candle. I think I will..it is a dear little church. I went to mass there yesterday — a very sociological experience. The best part was the German women who plyed the whole mass on the guitar, accompanied by a children´s choir of about eight 10-year- olds. There were two dogs circulating in the front of the church along with two toddlers. At one point a woman walks out from behind the alter with a broom and dust pan to clean up one of the dog’s offerings.

The music and loving spirit of the service will be a precious memory.The altar itself looked liked a huge red white and blue wedding cake. It was El Dia de Los Ninos Day, of the children and one age group received Bibles and there was a blessing of children of all ages.

We are in San Pedro de Atacama, population 2000, an oasis in the middle of the Atacama desert. Our hotel is wonderful. My roommate here is a teacher from Chile who was a Fulbright exchange. We are taking day trips out to various intereesting earth phenomena. The town itself is kind of like a mountaineering town, art colony with many markets fun restaurants.

Last night, high on a sand dune in the Valley of the Moon, waiting for the sun to set, I met friends of Mary Kay´s from Robbinsdale. I realized the last time I had gone to great lengths to see the sun perform was with Mary Kay, watching the sun come up over the Annapurna range.

Off to the local archeaological museum for a lecture; the director is a former Fulbrighter. There is a big connection with all Fulbrighters here.

Morocco, Fall 2007

Here is the website for the house Mary and I and AE and RE rented in Essaouira for five days after our group travel. Essaouira (Ess a wee ra) the town has a population of 60,000. The site has more photos of the house.

I was the lead organizer for our trip to Morocco. Here’s a list of travel tips I shared with the group before hand:

It appears that we have all recovered from the frustration (Erghh!) of the invoice snafu and moved on to happy anticipation of our journey to Morocco.

Here are some of my thoughts as our departure date comes racing toward us:
If you haven’t read the various packets from OAT, make a cup of coffee or tea (Moroccan mint?) and sit down with a highlighter or take notes. There is a lot in those pages. Also,read all the components that are on the trip website. I just read it over again and there is a lot of interesting information. Click on everything!

Here are some highlights that I gleaned from reading the webpage about our trip and booklets:
1. Bring a pillow case for the desert.
2. Flashlight for the desert. I am sure we can share and they might have extras.
3. Clothing: don’t stew about this too much. It looks as if 60 might be an average temperature. JG said she learned from former OAT travelers that our guide will coach us in customs and dress and will take us to a market to buy scarves for head coverings as appropriate. Light weight long Johns may be appropriate for sleeping in the desert but I am sure they will have plenty of blankets.The website has good information.
4. Swimsuit: several of the hotels have pools.
5. You might want to make a copy of the currency exchange “cheat sheet” on the OAT website. I like to print it out and glue it on a little card to put in my wallet so I have it for shopping.
Other thoughts:

6. My sister reminded me to mention that if we bring American money for tips or to use in markets, it should be fairly crisp and certainly not torn. I suggest you read what OAT has to say about money.

7. I like to line my suitcase with bubble wrap in case I find a wood carving or ceramic plate to bring home.
Any other favorite travel tips?

8. Our guide will most likely have a cell phone, so we won’t need to worry about being isolated from the rest of the world. When my sister and I were in Peru a year ago, one of our travelers got very ill with diverticulitis and had to return home to New Mexico. Corinna, our tour director, stayed in touch all the way, after he left our group, was taken to the hospital and was met by other OAT staff. It was incongruous, as we sat at the top of Machu Picchu, enjoying the blue, blue sky, the intense green of the steep mountainsidess, llamas chewing their cud at our feet and a condor circling overhead, and there sat Corrinna, talking by cell phone to OAT staff in Cuzco and Lima, monitoring our friends’ care and safe departure. It was very reassuring.

9. So much for good intentions. My reading preparation consists of some web surfing, parts of the DK Eye Witness guide book and one book about Harem life in the 50’s. It will be fun to read Moroccan tales during cold winter evenings. Perhaps we will have books among us that we can share on the trip.

10. For what it’s worth, I have read in several places that shopping is much better in Marrakech than Fez.

11. Penny sent an informative website about the Western Sahara territories south of Morocco. This is very controversial. Folks who stayed with a Moroccan family last year said they didn’t want to discuss the situation. Here’s another interesting site.

12. Remember to call your credit card company and/or bank if you plan to use an ATM. They are likely to block the use of your card in Morocco if they don’t know you are traveling there. I had it happen in the USA last summer when I bought gas in IL, Ohio and then by PA they wouldn’t let me charge any more gas, thinking I had a stolen card!

13. Copies of your drivers license, passport and credit card hidden among your belongings provide extra security.

That’s it for now! Take you vitamins and hold on to the handrails.

Home Safely from Cuba

Trying to check-in with commitments here and take to time to summarize the trip and write down things we want to remember for the next groups and promises we made to friends in Cuba.

The president of the seminary we have a partnership with has a keychain with a photo of Bush and an electronic countdown of his days in office. Everywhere we went we heard, “We love Americans. Viva Americanos.”

There is such a contrast between this year and last. Much more open desperation, much more talk of hope, open, but till very cautious talk against the revolution.

Much to process! Love to you all!