the dan & carrie show: Everywhere Else Archives

October 05, 2008

Alaska Photos now available

scroll down to the babymoon entry to find the link to 379 breathtaking photos.

do you think any of them could win a contest somewhere? they're mine and you have to give me all credit and any royalties you make off them thank you very much.

your host for this episode : dan; 06:17 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2008

The "Babymoon"

at 24 weeks pregnant, dan and i (and Tiger) hopped on a flight bound for alaska on frequent flyer miles for 2 weeks. into fairbanks and out of anchorage. hiking, hot springs, camping, rain, rain, rain, some frost, wild blueberry and wild cranberry picking and then making PANCAKES with those... and a base to summit view of Mt McKinley (aka Denali) for 1/2 a day! that was certainly the most breathtaking.

do you know much about alaska? i sure didn't before we went. denali park and preserve is the size of Massachusetts. and it's not the biggest park in alaska. huge. and there's one road: 95 miles long, most of it one lane and unpaved and perched on the edge of one mountain pass or another. we stayed at wonder lake at mile 87 for 2 nights by a very fortunate turn of events {the dufus we made the reservation with for 28/29/30 aug at igloo creek at mile 30-something wrote it up as 29/30/31 aug so when we showed up on the 28th and our bus driver (who Grew Up in GR by john ball zoo!) noticed our ticket was for the next day, we went and got "bumped" to an employee site at wonder lake - which was where we really wanted to be anyway but were told that it was "full"...} and hiked 7 miles one day [pregnant - let me remind you] mostly in a drizzle and always under overcast skies. the 2nd evening the rain quit and things seemed to lighten up ever so slightly and by 3am the sky was Clear, the stars were out, and so was the mountain. nearly everyone else at the campground there at Wonder Lake was/is a professional photographer (aka: pro-phos) - didn't know that was a pre-req! - and at 3 they started making their way to various vantage points for the twilight and then sunrise pictures.
when we woke up at 7 we were in fog. it rolled up off wonder lake (behind us and below us a bit) around sunrise but you could sense that above the fog there were clear skies. so we ate breakfast, and made our own way to a vantage point above the campground, bushwhacked through some underbrush with our bear bells on, and stood in awe of the majesty of the Mountain, and in ever More awe of the Creator of that Mountain. there was still frost on the berry bushes and i'm happy to say that we Never saw a bear or a moose while on foot. praise Jesus bc i think i would have wet myself.

so yeah, it was gorgeous. simply gorgeous. covered in snow, surrounded by fall foliage (and it was the 30th of August mind you), and just majestic. by about 9 there started to come some small clouds in front of the face, and by 12, when the first buses from the entrance would have made it to a vantage point around 50 some miles in, the face was again completely obscured with only the base and the very summit showing itself briefly now and then.

our way out of the park that day on the bus was also incredible. we saw caribou grazing withing 30 yards of the bus, a wolf munching on a moose kill, Several grizzlies - one of which crossed the road in Front of our bus, two wolf pups (already large but not yet full grown) walking In the road, and - just when i had given up - two bull moose having a go at it in the road in front of our bus. not serious, but like a couple of brothers wrestling or something! there was a Mob of people with big lenses and several of them dangerously Close to the animals (moose are more dangerous than bear, btw). we were quite afraid that they'd get trampled. the parks department is pretty adamant about people using the buses, but pro-phos somehow get special permission to drive their private vehicle in. see, if you stay On the bus, you're not a separate entity to the animals. they know the bus is a) not a threat and b) not a food source, so they leave it alone... but if you're outside of your vehicle, they get confused.

our two days in seward (on the coast just south of anchorage) were spent in the rain. the town is situated on the end of a fjord and supposedly the fjord is Breathtaking when the sun is out - which we're told happens at least 2 days per year ;) we were planning to camp, kayak, hike, and take it all in that way, but instead of setting up camp in the rain, cooking in the rain, ending up with wet socks because there'd be no place to dry them out in the rain, hiking in the rain, and kayaking in the rain and High Seas, we opted to upgrade our reservation at millers landing and splurged on a "camping cabin": an 8x12 structure With a front porch, bunks, and a Wood Stove! we could stand up inside to get changed, light a fire to dry out our socks and coats, and be on the front porch enjoying what we Could see of the fjord without being in the rain. and we also opted for a boat cruise instead of a kayak trip to see the wildlife. we saw a harbor seal (actually in the harbor!), several sea otters, a passel of sea lions who'd managed to haul themselves out onto a rocky outcrop, puffins, rare kittiwakes (which look remarkably like a charlevoix seagull), mountain goats (yes from the water - that's how steep the fjord is!), and supposedly 2 hump back whales. but at that moment, there were too many people around me getting sick (even dan was a bit green) and they only showed their humps and a little flip of tail fin and Everything was grey (because of the rain and fog, remember?) so i couldn't vouch that they were really whales!

so anyway, the rain made us relax. forced us to really. see we're not good at that. it's raining again today, that's why-come i can write this, because i'd rather be in my garden. or at the farmers market. or Something other than inside. but me and Tiger are sitting here just bringing you all up to speed while dan is off playing paint ball and riding dirt bikes in the woods with friends.

click below to be taken to our photo album on picasa. or just watch it here. be forewarned: there are 379 photos. but these are the good ones of the 1500+ that we started with.

your host for this episode : carrie; 11:28 AM | Comments (1)

August 31, 2008

we have emerged unscathed...

and yet so very tired. The journey out from the back country today was spectacular but to really understand HOW spectacular you have to know that it has rained all week. And The Mountain has been in hiding since last Saturday! So the first three days of hiking were spent in the rain, or at least off and on. We went to bed last night fully expecting to go home without seeing The Mountain. We woke up this morning to frost, and you know what that means: it got clear overnight! We had gorgeous views and full sun until about noon when it started to get overcast and the mountain was obscured. Not even the first buses out had clear views but because we had stayed out at Wonder Lake we did! :)
Ok then goodnight to you all maybe we'll write more from the train and upload once we get to anchorage mañana.

xo, c&d

your host for this episode : dan; 02:05 AM | Comments (0)

August 26, 2008

On the move

After two days and three nights in Fairbanks, we are on the move. We have tickets for the morning train to Denali, where we will stay untill sunday, or saturday or tuesday or tomorrow...
The weather is a little on the cool side, but far from cold.
Sorry we don't have any photos to post, we don't have access to that technology.
We will try to post again if we find free internet access.

your host for this episode : dan; 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2008

We have arrived

we have just checked in to our hotel and are pulling an Eric and Heather move, going to bed brefore 9:00. More when we are more awake.

your host for this episode : dan; 12:53 AM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2008

i'm back... safe if not entirely sound

i just got back into the office and opened an email from the intern i visited in Sierra Leone. my response back to her seems like a good post, so here it is, with some minor edits for explanation for you all:

i did get lots of rest over the weekend, but no bread was made. i think that was a pipe dream... i didn't have that kind of energy! Saturday was just above freezing here and the sun was shining beautifully, so it was melting all the snow! but Blue sky, instead of the thick humidity like in freetown. it felt good to be "cold" for a change :)

the trip was, well, a Trip! Sonnoh, the guy who watched my bags for me at the helipad between the time we bought the ticket at 6pm and check-in at 11pm, tried chatting me up while i was waiting to board. we actually took off at something like 12:34 (midnight:34), having to wait for the air maroc manager to get there before we could take off... he was running late and some of the lebanese were getting irate. it was kind of funny! there's lots of lebanese living in freetown, some have been there since the '50s.

then in line at the airport, a german guy started talking with me, asked if it was ok that we sit together "because there can be some really strange people on these flights"... yeah, like him. it was free seating and we did in fact manage to get a row of 3 to ourselves. but i didn't sleep but maybe 20 minutes. i was afraid to let my eyes close as i'd gotten a nasty bite from who knows what at the helipad that swelled way up and was turning my hand and even scalp (?!) tingly. it was just by my elbow, and ended up the size of a quarter and twice as thick. didn't have full feeling back until i was on the ground in casa actually! crazy. i was actually thankful to have the blond german sitting nearby b/c whenever he walked away the guys in the airport were trying to get my attention too, and i just didn't have the energy for it!

i had a few hours in the airport in casa - friends there had other things to do, which was ok. i got some delicious coffee and finished the bananas i'd bought the day before en route from kabala to freetown. it took about an hour to actually board b/c for flights to europe or america they board you on a bus and take you over to another part of the airport (probably the old terminal?) for the extra screening. they opened everybody's carry on and gave everybody a pat down. i ended up with two seats to myself by a window and saw the casa coastline And cape cod as we came over the US. i think i managed to sleep 3 hours on that flight.

when i got into jfk, i had to collect my bags (as usual) and then waited about 20 minutes for the air maroc guy to come b/c the rip on the front got much bigger and another one started as well. so he started a damaged bag claim for me, and i have to send some things in to complete it.

when i finally got to terminal 4 to check in with continental, they kindly informed me that my flight had been canceled and i'd been rescheduled through laguardia. um, what? so my should-have-been 2 hours to get lunch and sit and rest suddenly became time to stand on the curb (in below freezing temperatures) waiting for the transfer bus. i ended up running through the laguardia terminal - actually twice, because when i got to security they told me that the bottle of liqueur that i bought in casa duty free would have to be confiscated or the bag would have to be checked. at that point it was 5 minutes to take off! i ran back up to the counter, explained what was going on, and one of the ladies from the desk ended up running with my bag through security (where they had to scan it again and tried to say again that it couldn't go) and to the flight b/c the truck had already left with the last of the checked bags. i ended up running from the security point, carrying my coat and my handbag. the counter clerk carrying my carry-on was ahead of me because i had to wait for my shoes to clear the x-ray scanner. i was running at full tilt through the terminal to my gate, which was naturally at the far end of the terminal. i was dodging travelers and people in other gates were cheering me on, saying "Go! Go! Go!" i got to the gate just as they were about to close the door, and they held it open for me (praise jesus!!). when i got on the plane there was somebody in my seat. i said "aw just nevermind i'll just sit back there". i collapsed in a seat and just started weeping.

my bag really did make it and all was ok, but so much for calling my mom from the airport to wish her a happy birthday!

i had some time in cleveland to get a sandwich, right as the shop was closing down for the night, and then a couple minutes to sit at the gate waiting for the crew to come from their inbound flight. so we were late taking off, and late getting in to GR, but it was So Good to finally be in. dan was watching the flight tracker which told him i was gonna land at 10:20 and we actually landed at 10:05, so he wasn't there waiting for me... oh well. i collapsed into bed at 11 and i don't think i've Ever Slept So well.

i heard from melissa that the power and water has been out most of the time since i left. too funny that i missed it. i'm Really glad there was water for a shower for me though before i took off... is that selfish of me? whew! i would've been Ripe!

the last 43 hours of the trip consisted of 7 hours in a car, 14 hours of flying, 1 1/2 hours transferring from jfk to laguardia, 11 hours waiting in airports or at the helipad, and less than 8 hours in freetown to rest, shop, sightsee, eat, and shower.

it is Good to be home.

your host for this episode : carrie; 07:57 AM | Comments (2)

February 27, 2008

an hour... or so i thought!

we traveled yesterday to a village 25 miles from kabala. i was planning an hour in my mind... i didn't expect that the roads would make the michigan forest service roads look like a cake walk: 25 miles took 3.5 hours! and we sat with the villagers - all the opinion leaders of the village, there were about 20 or so of them, one from each 6-7 homes - for a while, seeing their work from the previous day and that morning. they were taking part in a community development training. there were muslims and christians, imams and pastors, and tho there may have been conflict or friction between them before, this training creates a space for them to come to agreement and respect each other in the process. at the beginning of their time together, they outlined the norms they would function by. i'd like to share those with you. these are not trainer-imposed, but participant decided:
1. respect each others view
2. we should respect time
3. talk one after the other
4. listen to one another
5. talk or leave after permission
6. no smoking
7. no sleeping
8. no side talks
9. don't spit on the floor
10. no shouting on others
11. no fighting
12. don't laugh at others
13. use no abusive language
14. no side attraction

they were to outline their 6-month community plan after we left. i'm excited to hear what they plan...

after sitting with them for a while and sharing their food (especially loved the fresh bananas!), we turned around and made our way back to kabala. most travel on this road is done on foot or on motorcycle, so going by truck is difficult. many places have deep ruts from being washed out in the rainy season. we had just enough time for a short walk in town to stretch our legs and get blood moving before nightfall.

this morning i think we're staying at the office to discuss things and then tomorrow we're off back to freetown and the airport... another 7 hours in the car!

your host for this episode : carrie; 04:06 AM | Comments (1)

February 22, 2008

meetings are done!

and most of the team is leaving soon or has already left. i'll be in a meeting with the regional director and the sierra leone intern in an hour and a half. i might try to get out a bit before that time and explore some but otherwise, i have tomorrow to "shop" and sightsee. kermit will have a photo shoot on gory island tomorrow and we'll do some shopping.

melissa and i will then leave sunday midday for freetown and "upcountry". i believe that we will be out of internet range for the duration of next week - so have no fear if you don't hear from me. in fact i may not even post tomorrow night because of internet availability... so don't plan on it!

i've been learning so much, and loving the interaction with the staff here. it's been indeed very good to put faces with names with projects and programs.

i am fully recovered from my respiratory/bronchial problems i was having the last couple of weeks in GR, but i had a bout of food poisoning wednesday night into thursday. funny too, because i ate the same ham and cheese omelette wednesday as i did on tuesday... but it tasted a bit off and seemed a bit undercooked. so maybe that was it. after a couple of violent episodes of vomiting in the night that destroyed the toilet-room and some diareahha (hey, we've all been overseas, it's ok to talk about bodily functions, right?) on thursday, and lots of sleep (like hardly moving before 3pm) thursday and last night, i'm back to normal. or at least as normal as i've ever been!

salaam one and all! see you lay-ta!

your host for this episode : carrie; 09:53 AM | Comments (1)

February 19, 2008

bumped to business class

Have you ever had the experience of getting bumped to first/business class? It happened to me, last night. Let me tell you about it.

After a lovely 36 hours of layover in Casablanca with my friends (ahem, in the rain), Cindy brought me to the airport to check in for my flight. We were just about right on time to check in with the appropriate amount of time, but as I kept getting the run around about where to re-claim my bags and how, it kept getting closer to the time i should be boarding, and I hadn't even checked in yet! At 6pm, 1h20minutes before takeoff I was at the counter with my bags. And I was told that I was on the wait list because the flight was full.

What?! Did I understand incorrectly? I had done everything in french up to this point, so I asked her in English. And she said Wait List. How could that be? I'd been checked in since GRR on Saturday Morning! I was politely told to stand aside for 15 minutes and then they would know. 15 minutes go by, I check with her again, and still nothing. A crowd was gathering - 15 of us in all. They told me that I could wait until "tomorrow" or go on the 11pm flight. But I have a meeting in the morning, I said. "We'll see what we can do."

I went and sat down with Cindy - praise God she was still with me! - and had a coca in the cafe across the lobby. I came back, another 15 minutes later and waited at the counter. A man came by and took my name, and another 10 minutes went by. Then he walks by me, not looking at me, with a ticket in hand, and walks to another ticketing agent. On his way back by, he says "go see the monsieur" (we think, b/c it was not at all loudly). So I walked up to the counter and stood next to the guys already waiting there. For some reason my name was on the ticket. He processed me, processed my bags, gave me the boarding pass, and motioned me over toward the security gates.

Walking over to the checkpoint, I was looking to see what seat I was in, expecting to see 47-J or something... and I saw 3C. 03-C. Huh?? I was the last person on the plane, at 3 minutes to posted departure, and 3C was occupied, as were all the overhead bins for my carry on suitcase and the laptop i was carrying. the guy in my seat was from 2-A, and would prefer to sit next to his fiancee than the guy in 2-C, thank you very much, so I sat in 2-A. 20 minutes and a glass of apple juice later we're still at the gate, not yet pulled away and they announce that we're having some technical difficulties and they're having someone come down and inspect... another 20 minutes and another glass of apple juice later they announce that we'll be de-planing until they can figure out what to do.

And so we deplane. I exit into the terminal and stand there, looking around for where to sit and wait. they guy from 2-C stops and asks if i have a "right to the VIP lounge". No, of course, but he has the right to invite one other so I could join him if I wanted. Y'all ever been in the VIP lounge? There was an espresso bar, juice bar, and a buffet of beautiful little french pastries. For crying out loud.

Two and a half hours later we were invited to reboard a new plane.

Dinner made me weep. Real silverware, real glasses, real plates, and three courses, unless you count dessert. Foie gras (which I hate but the fig chutney was great), delicious chicken, A CHEESE COURSE, then they cleared away the linens and dishes and ten minutes later came around with coffee and dessert.

i slept like a baby after dinner, in my lazyboy. arrived at 1:45AM in dakar, took me an hour to get through passport control and baggage claim and finally out through customs and the mob waiting outside. in the process of getting to my room (shared with melissa) i woke up people in three rooms b/c the guy at the desk told me room 575 and not 579 and my knocking woke up bulus and david t and the sywulkas and who knows who else! whoopsy...

meetings started at 8:30, with a lovely french breakfast of croissant, chocolat chaud, beurre et confiture. :) i'm a bit tired now, but going to push on through... it's nearly 6 and meetings have just concluded for the day. back on again at 8:30.

your host for this episode : carrie; 10:02 AM | Comments (2)

February 17, 2008

friends in casablanca

greetings from casa :)

i arrived this morning, an hour ahead of schedule, and hit the ground running with friends! dave picked me up, we went back to their house, had a cup o jo with danielle and the kiddos, then paul and cindy and fam came over and we all went for lunch at this really schmancy place down by the corniche. i took some pretty cool pics but now the card doesn't want to read in the computer. :( we think it's because it was initialized on a mac and i tried to open it on a pc. anybody got advice on this?

here's a couple from dave's camera. kermit the frog makes a cameo appearance at rick's cafe (modeled after the movie, not the other way around, i'm told), and if i get the card from my camera to read anywhere else, you can see his face too.

this is in the backyard at dave and danielle's with me and all the kiddos... well, most of them anyway!

have i mentioned lately that i love my job?

your host for this episode : carrie; 04:31 PM | Comments (3)

January 28, 2008

you probably already know this, but...

Why do we borrow money and give it to countries that don't need it?

So I don't claim to know who the Incontiguous Brick is, but he makes a good point. I was at wordpress.com this morning to publish some of our intern blogs and found this article staring me in the face. I thought you should all read it too.

Don't bother with the comments, they'll just get you angry, but the blog itself raises some really Good Questions as to why we (the USA in general and US Taxpayers in particular) send so much freaking money to Israel to support their habit of blowing up homes of Palestinians - most of whom are innocent and many of whom have more history in the land than do the soldiers who are forcing them from their beds and homes.

Here's a prayer request I received this morning from a student at the Bethlehem Bible College. He was here a year ago with the choir and they sang in our office. One of my colleagues has kept in contact with him:
>>> 1/28/2008 9:17 AM >>>
i was going home from the bible college and there was Israeli soldiers and lots of Jeeps provented me to go in the way of my home, so one person asked me to stay there for a while, until this israeli attack finish ...

so am here now for almost 2 hours hearing shooting and bombs all over AND I WAS TRYING TO CALL HOME (few) AND THERE WAS NO ANSWER !!!!!!!!!!!!!

in the end my mom called me and told me that ....... many Israeli armed soldiers entered our home and THEY PUT ALL MY FAMILY IN ONE ROOM AND THEY TOOK THE WHOLE HOUSE UNTIL THEY WILL DESTROY A HOUSE NEXT TO ME ...

so at this moment one or more family will have no home in this very cold weather or shelter and my family and me don't know when this thing going to finish ...

SO PLZ PRAY NOW NOW NOW... i wish i have a picture to show you how scary it is ...

I LOVE YOU ALL AND LETS TRUST GOD FOR A MIRACLE

your host for this episode : carrie; 09:52 AM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2007

vacation

how sweet it is... how long has it been since we've taken a break away from all our obligations? a break from everything, no matter how much enjoyment we get from it?

I cannot remember the last time we took a vacation. But Friday evening we put away the tools, turned off the heat, packed the car and headed south. South? But we're in the UP. How does that work?

We spent the night Friday in Kenosha, WI after driving an hour and a half through torrential rains getting out of Michigan, then construction and Chicago traffic. Let me tell you this: even at midnight in Chicago the roads are not clear. Saturday morning we headed north through Milwaukee, Sheboygan, and Green Bay. We stopped to stretch our legs in Port Washington and were talking about getting a cup of coffee, but thought we'd have a better story if we sat in a cafe in Belgium, which was just up the road! But naught a cafe to be found in Belgium. Sad day. Sorry Melinda, my sweet, but your homeland has let us down... ok, not really...

Saturday was a day of waterfalls and peak colors. After such a dry summer we didn't expect many waterfalls to be flowing heavily, but we weren't disappointed by what we saw. Perhaps ignorance is bliss... We thought the colors would be past by this time, too, but in middle Wisconsin and then even yesterday in Copper Harpor, there were stunning displays of reds, oranges, and yellows. The sky was blue, the sun was warm, and it was a great day for a drive. We arrived late Saturday in South Range, Michigan.

Sunday we spent a couple hours looking for a hiking trail to a reservoir in the national forest. We didn't find the reservoir and we didn't find a trail, but we did find loads of mud and moisture and we did find the map again after we lost it once. Then we turned around and went back to the car and drove over to a trailhead down to O-Kun-De-Kun Falls. This trail also had loads of mud and moisture, but a much clearer trail and a known distance to go... so even in spite of me wearing just sneakers the trail was much easier for me to handle. When we reached the parking lot again after exploring down around the falls and avoiding most of the mud, there was a family just setting out. Mom and one of the daughters were wearing bright white sneakers and the son was wearing crocs. We cautioned them but they went on anyway - guess they didn't believe us! After the falls we came home and changed into dry shoes and went into town for pizza at the Ambassador. Martha, was that place around when you were here? Love the booths in there, And the paintings on the cieling!

Monday we went up in to Houghton to Down Wind Sports to buy me some boots so I could better enjoy the muddy trails. Then we went for a drive on up to Calumet and Copper Harbor, and checked out a few more sights along the way, including muddy trails and waterfalls. We drove down a little-traveled forest service road and then hiked a mile or so to Horseshoe Bay and climbed the rocks and took some pictures. I don't feel like putting those up just yet, so you'll just have to read the musings for now.

Today we spent a couple hours helping Matt and Vic at the mine, closing it up for the year and doing some inventory. Then we came home and made our legendary Pasta Coma, by special request.

Henry is a blast, even though he does have hip displaysia and gets tired out faster than even me!

We are alive, we are well, and we are enoying being "out of reach". We are thankful that there's only occassional, spotty coverage on the cell phones...

your host for this episode : carrie; 09:53 PM | Comments (2)

July 16, 2007

The Village of Ertas

We spent a couple of hours the valley of the village of Ertas (a.k.a. Artas or Irtas) on the 29th of June. Here are my reflections:
The settlement of Ephrata had demolished Awad’s home and orchards forty days ago to make way for a sewage tank on his land in the valley below the settlement. This tank would hold the sewage until it overflowed and spilled into the valley, ruining the most fertile soil around and contaminating the ground water. This was just a tank, not a processing system, or septic system. The idea is that the Israelis build a sewage tank that would last 8-10 months until it’s full, and then leave it to the Palestinians (who are the rightful owners of the land the settlement is built upon) to build the connector to their own waste water systems and process it themselves. Of course, all of this without compensation. NONE.
We took part in a non-violent demonstration in protest of this confiscation of property. We gathered at the end of a long dirt road pass around the mountain and heard from Awad and from folks from the Holy Land Trust, who explained it to us. There were dozens of armed Israelis in full riot gear, and two with video cameras in addition to their machine guns, taping everything that was said and every face that was present.
Because of the international presence there, Awad was allowed to go onto his property, but only for 15 minutes. How he did not break down and weep over his confiscated land I will never understand. He spoke to us about his land, pointing here and there to show where his home had stood, where his apricot and plum trees stood, where his children played, and where his animals grazed. And now the beginnings of a sewage tank sit there. As they were escorting us off the property, Awad invited us to eat the plums from the few remaining trees on his land.

This video (linked) was shot on the 20th of May and is the reason why we joined the non-violent demonstration on the 29th. The man who speaks is Awad.

Here's another link to an article about the day we spent with them. The young guy with the Camelbak is Rick. It is his hand you see in this shot.

your host for this episode : carrie; 08:28 AM | Comments (0)

July 13, 2007

photos from the trip

Words to come later, but for now I'll let these speak for themselves.

your host for this episode : carrie; 08:22 AM | Comments (0)

July 06, 2007

on the ground...

Just landed in Newark. We had a terrible departure from Ben Gurion, terrible service on the flight and terrible food. Rana was pulled aside again for an hour plus and strip searched this time. I've created a new word: dis-humane. Inhumane would imply that they don't have particular knowledge or skill of being humane. Dishumane to me means that they know exactly what they're doing and don't have the capacity to act any differently.

Ok we're at the gate now...more later.

your host for this episode : carrie; 04:34 AM | Comments (0)

July 04, 2007

I'm back from Amman... and Rick's news of 30 June

after almost two hours in the border crossing, 3 simultaneous interrogators, and hours in taxis on both sides of the border i am rejoined to the group. the wedding was beautiful, and such a joy to visit with her family. i'll put pics up when i can get to a computer with a better connection.

we're in nazareth tonight. from the main terrace you can see cana in the distance. wow.

i promised you rick's explanation of his checkpoint crossing. the copy/paste from his update to his home church family is below, in the link.

there is a group of pastors from another denomination that have joined us for the last few days. they've written (and performed for us) a song. here are the lyrics, to the tune of O Little Town of Bethlehem....
-----------------
O Little Town of Bethlehem, O how you've touched our lives
You brought us to the CRC, predestined to change our lives
We came here to vacation to sle-ep in and shop
But instead we've heard your speakesr who changed the plans we made

O thank you to the CRC for all that we have done
For Rana's wi-ld activism, for Rick's conver-sion
For checkpoints, settlers, soldiers, for gun shots at mid-day
The hopes and fears of all the years need Herm to ca-ll Bush.

O thank you to the CRC for opening up your group
You showed us hospitality, and bless-ed unity.
------------------
God bless and Good night, see you Friday!

Yesterday I and the group was invovled in a protest against the Isralies buildng a sewage dump through a confiscated (without reason) farmer's field that had been in the family since before the time of Christ. The international media was there and can be found through the Palestine News Nework as well as covered by Rueters. I was actually filmed and photographed a couple a times. One time covering the camera of an Israeili solider who was filming the protestfor the Israelis. Another soldier came by up towards me during this time and as the solder was yelling at me in Hebrew. Then another protester yelled he is an American, he is an American, immediatly they backed away from me and moved. (it is amazing how much power citzenship can have when your government supports the opposing soliders and they all carry American guns and everything). Later I was told by the group that was a great thing and they had photographed it. By the way a couple members of the group attend Uncle Jacks church and have talked to him so I do not know how much you have talked to him about it. Today we visted a number of peace groups and I by myself got off the bus and walked through an Israeli check point at the West bank. Upon seeing me the Isrealis released a number of Palestians being detained in the heat, upon being realeased they walked passed me and each of the youth smiled and thanked me. I then had an Isreali solder who told me that all Palestians are animals and not to be trusted and are dangerous people (I did not tell him that I am living with a Palestine family and they are anything but animals and dangerous) I thanked him politly for the advice shook his hand and continued through the checkpoint, upon which I was later picked up by my bus.

your host for this episode : carrie; 02:11 PM | Comments (0)

bea u ti ful!

I made it to the wedding... It was beautiful and so much fun to be able to be there with my friend! I'm sitting now at the border crossing. Yesterday it took 2 plus hours, so I'm planning for the same...

your host for this episode : carrie; 04:34 AM | Comments (0)

July 02, 2007

Sakinah!

I just got off the phone with Sakinah! I'm leaving in the morning to visit
her - the wedding is tomorrow and I'll come back to the group on Wednesday morning... inshallah in Nazareth.

that's all for now!

your host for this episode : carrie; 02:35 PM | Comments (1)

June 30, 2007

heart breaking

it's really unreal folks. un real.

we went to Bethany today, the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. we visited a former member of parliament. he's now the publisher of a quarterly journal on various topics. he makes a point to be two-sided... representing both sides of the story in his journal. on the way back into bethlehem (we had to go through the Valley of Hell - wadi nar in arabic) and a checkpoint. we waited at least 15 minutes in the line, which is apparently quite quick. rick decided to walk. he looks the part of a young backpacker and was "befriended" by the israeli guard. i should let him tell you the story. i'll ask him tomorrow to write it out for me and i'll post it... remind me, eh?

anyway. my heart is heavy tonight. i wish i could upload a picture or two, but i don't want to use up too much time on my host's computer to upload a picture.

i have a friend in jordan who i was hoping to see. she is to be married on tuesday and invited me to her wedding right after the engagement. i haven't heard anything from her in two weeks, so i don't know how to get to her - i don't have a phone number and i'm not receiving any emails from her. :(

pray, if you will, for two things.
1. that our hearts could and would push through all of this and come out on the other side with a recommendation for our denomination.
2. that sakinah will get in touch and i can see her! i can't imagine being within 50 miles of her and not visiting. but then, that would be a dim reflection of what people here live through every day, i suppose, wouldn't it? hmmm.

love to you all, good night.

your host for this episode : carrie; 04:19 PM | Comments (1)

June 27, 2007

approaching overload...

and at lightning speed.

we hit the ground running this morning. out of the hotel by 8:45 and in go-mode (with a short interruption for lunch) until 4 when we had a meeting with the bishop. seven hours of hot sun and walking does not make one very talkative once sat in a comfortable chair. we're gaining so much insight into the situation here, trying to get both sides, but our hearts are just grieved by the injustices that we see heaped upon the local population, local prior to 1948 that is. water and electricity cutoffs, no permits to renovate (or even upkeep) homes, such that they fall into disrepair and become condemned and then property of the state.
i am ashamed that i am allowed to visit this site, when it holds little significance for me, but yet my friends who hold this to be a holy holy place, are not allowed to even approach it, let alone enter.

in addition to the bishop, we met with a representative from the Bereaved Parents' Circle - only one because his palestinian counterpart was held up at the checkpoint - and a humanitarian aid group working for social justice.

your host for this episode : carrie; 03:30 PM | Comments (1)

June 26, 2007

we're all here...

Rana was released yesterday after three and a half hours of interrogation. Seven different people questioned her and Peter witnessed all of it. It was after midnight when she got to the room last night.

Praise God for her release, and for her very willingness to undergo that kind of treatment for our sake.

That's all for now. Our day starts with via delarosa today.

your host for this episode : carrie; 11:29 PM | Comments (1)

we've arrived.

Just left the airport. They have Rana behind closed doors. Peter has stayed with her and we waited an hour and some with no sign of them. Peter called to say move on without them. Seems like it may be a while. They'll take a cab later I suppose.
Pray for them both, they are instrumental to this whole trip!

your host for this episode : carrie; 12:49 PM | Comments (0)

June 25, 2007

On my way to the Holy Land...

I never really thought I'd ever have a chance to go to the Holy Land and walk in the lands of Christ. But today I'll be boarding a plane bound for there.

For the last year, I've been working for a denomination, specifically the relief and development wing of that denomination. Since about December, I've been working with the denomination's Office of Social Justice to put together a study group to go to Palestine/Israel. We leave today.

The purpose? To try to figure out how we can be a hand for justice in the region. We all realize that True Peace will not likely happen in our lifetime, but we want to be agents of peace and justice. And reconciliation.

We're not going to point fingers. We're not going to say we know how to fix it. We just want to encourage those folks who are doing the work of reconciliation and see how we, as a denomination, might help them in their work. We also want to learn: to sit at the feet of the body of Christ in the region and learn about their perseverence and their reliance on God, and learn how to better rely on Him ourselves.

I come to this with great humility, feeling underqualified and not worthy to be part of such a great journey. But I know that those things for which Christ has called me, he has also prepared me.

Of course it's all subject to change at any given moment depending upon security and travel restrictions, but our proposed itinerary goes like this:

June 26
Arrival in Tel Aviv. Transfer from Tel Aviv airport to a hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Wednesday, June 27
Day 1: We Will start our day with a tour of the Old City of Jerusalem, and the Holy & historic sites. Meetings with religious leaders, parents' groups, and humanitarian aid workers. Overnight in Old City.

Thursday, June 28
Day 2: We will visit Ephrata Settlement and meet with an Israeli settler. Then we will drive to Hebron, to tour the old city and visit the Tomb of The Patriarchs. Meetings with various peacemaker teams. On the way back we will drive through Beit Fajjar. Dinner & Overnight with host families.

Friday, June 29
Day 3: Bethlehem, Beit Sahour. Visit to a refugee camp, a Greek Orthodox housing project. Meetings with pastors, churches, peace-making groups. Overnight with Host Families.

Saturday, June 30
Day 4: Bethlehem, Ramallah. Meetings with reconciliation groups, a university, and politicians. Dinner & Overnight with host families.

Sunday, July 1
Day 5: We will begin our day worshiping with local Christians, afternoon with local youth, and a visit to the Dead Sea. Dinner & Overnight with host families.

Monday, July 2
Day 6: Jerusalem. Meetings with various peace-making groups. Dinner & Overnight with host families.

Tuesday, July 3
Day 7: Sulfit and Nablus today where we will visit the old city of Nablus. Then visit a refugee camp and local University. Dinner & Overnight in Nazareth.

Wednesday, July 4
Day 8: Debriefing. Touring, Church of Annunciation, Sea of Galilee boat ride, Mt. of Beatitudes, Tabgha, Capernaum. Dinner & Overnight in Nazareth.

Thursday, July 5
Day 8: Departure
Akko, Haifa, Ein Hod, Caesarea Maritima, Jaffa - to Tel Aviv Airport.

Pray for Dan, if you will. He'll be holding down the fort here in GR while I'm gone - and he is slightly nervous and very jealous of me going.

Love to you all,
Carrie

your host for this episode : carrie; 08:31 AM | Comments (1)

January 19, 2007

Josiah is in the hospital

You may remember that we had house guests for a month or so this past summer. Samuel, Robyn, and son Josiah were on their way to Spain we had the great privilege of hosting them here. Since late July they have been in Spain, and we heard this week that he came down with gastroenteritis last weekend, on top of a second degree burn from a pulled-down tea cup.

Josiah has been in the hospital since Tuesday the 16th, and Robyn's been putting as frequent as possible updates on her webpage. Go there to read about how you can pray most effectively for the little man. http://robyn.bowles.es

your host for this episode : carrie; 03:51 PM | Comments (1)

January 07, 2007

Hot-lanta

For Christmas my mom told me she wanted to bring me to Atlanta to see my brother and his wife, and meet my nephew. Aiden Keiren was the star of the show, without a doubt! Here's the first of a few pics taken over the last few days. This one was a self portrait, taken this morning.
Tomorrow he'll be 7 months old, and he's already over 20 pounds!

your host for this episode : carrie; 09:48 PM | Comments (2)

March 20, 2006

AOL CD's - do something useful with them

Just saw a note on craigslist.org about a guy doing a project to build "pillars of decency" using all those stupid CDs that AOL sends out to everybody who doesn't want them. He's doing this to raise awareness and make a point of the wastefullness of such advertising. Click the link to see his note, and send those cd's on to Jersey.

This is the note from craigslist.org:

Hello!
I am writing you for your assistance; don't worry, it's easy!
I am taking part in the "Accumulation Project" -->
http://www.accumulationproject.org/brown/index.html

My role in this project is to gather as many AOL CDs as possible until September 2006. I will stack them and build "Pillars of Decency" (a funny comment on the wastefulness of this form of advertisement). The more I get, the taller the "Pillars" will be! I will take lots of pictures as documentation and post them to the
http://www.accumulationproject.org website. When the year is over, I will donate them to --> http://www.nomoreaolcds.com/

What I would like from you is the following:
1. Your AOL CDs! - The ones you and your friends, family and neighbors receive in the mail; or CDs you receive in publications! Whenever you find some, keep them and think of me.

2. Get the CDs to me. - You can mail them to me (sorry, I have $0.00 budget for this project, so I can't reimburse you for postage. However, I will offer you fame and good feelings by mentioning your name in thanks when the project is exhibited. If you send them "Media Mail" it will be cheaper!)
-OR- Send me an email, and we'll figure out how to get the CDs to me. (see below for addresses)

3. Tell your friends! - Talk to, or email your friends, family, coworkers, strangers, etc. about this project. The more the better!
That's it.

I very much appreciate your time and effort in making this project a success, and welcome you to check out the website frequently, as it grows every month!

Eric Brown
93 Bright St.
Jersey City, NJ 07302
eric@dogseat.org

your host for this episode : carrie; 09:42 PM | Comments (3)

December 27, 2005

MS again and again

a song from the youth in Hancock County, to the tune of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", here's "Downtown Got Run Over by Katrina"!

your host for this episode : carrie; 03:56 PM | Comments (0)

MS again and again

a song from the youth in Hancock County, to the tune of "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer", here's "Downtown Got Run Over by Katrina"!

your host for this episode : carrie; 03:56 PM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2005

"home" again

I've been trying to work on our website, trying to get it updated, but the server continued to deny us access. But we're back live now, thanks to Samuel. (You rock, Samuel!)
Apparently it wasn't just us, but every site and every author through our provider. I suppose that's encouraging, though dissappointing. Forgive me for the tardiness of this update, it is ten days overdue.

I want to thank each one of you for your fervent prayers on my behalf as I went to the Gulf Coast. Every one of our team felt blanketed by the protection of the Holy Spirit. We had no injuries beyond bug bites - from the mosquitos, sand fleas, and black flies - and minor scratches from brush removal. The last of mine are healed over now, and only slightly pink from where I got in a "fight" with a tree branch. Not to worry though, I won. I had the chain saw.

The first week, there were ten of us, plus the two guys "on the ground" there. Chris Koens and Jeff Verway are two awesome men that I am proud to call brothers. They moved down there for three months, on about 3 days notice, arriving around 2 weeks before I did. They are responsible for establishing the assignments the teams get every day.

At the end of my first week, 7 people went home and 11 arrived to start Crew 2.

Trying to put into words the feelings and activities of two weeks, it's hard. Even if you ask me in person, I have a hard time. Each time I talk about it, I remember different details, different bits of what God chose to show me. Dan hasn't even heard all the details yet.

Here's a couple excerpts from my journal, the first is after the first drive up the beach from camp to "work":
"Unimaginable is an understatement. Unspeakable. Unfathomable. Impossible to describe or re-create. Entire roofs were piled on top of other houses and sheds, hundreds of yards from their original locations. Houses built on stilts reduced to a collection of pilings and rubble. Some staircases and the odd couch or patio furniture. There's this one house - or used-to-be-house - that had a gazebo type structure as the top floor. Like the top floor was a bit smaller and round, with glass on every facet. You see the pilings, the shell of the first floor, and all the walls and windows and roof even of this gazebo bit on top. Incredible. The trees all around it are literally snapped off at about 25 feet up, as they are all up and down this coast. But there, there, the upper room was preserved. Don't understand it. Up the road a bit farther you can see the back of a small lawn tractor sticking out of the sand. You know, just the back of the seat & part of the back wheels. It was completely face first in the BEACH."

And another after the first "Mud Out" - affectionately renamed "Muck Out":
"The body at work. Every arm, every appendage, every peice. Some of the people we worked with today: John (as in the Baptist), Karen, Jeff, 'Red Shirt', 'Chickadee' the nurse, a couple of 20-something girls and a guy whose names we never caught. John & Jeff and our three 'boys' - the ones full of spunk I mean - those guys were unstoppable. Incredible. Hauling fridges, freezers, stoves, everything dripping and leaking sewage all over. Carpeting. Couches. And when the fridge wouldn't fit through the door way, they took the door off it. Not the door of the house, but the door of the fridge - and hauled it on out stench and all. Putrid. The word doesn't even touch the odor that still lingers. My first approximation was a bad perm. But Suzanne the stylist has experience with those and this was arguably much worse. Chemical horse manure was another discriptor. Raw. Love on display. I heard tell that the owner couldn't stand to see his place - hurt too much. But the love on display today and the unity exhibited by people who know not much more about our co-laborers than that we are co-laborers with Christ. Moment by moment each of us gained strength from the Almighty. He plugged up my nose today. I couldn't smell - or not like normal anyhow. Praise Him for it. And yesterday and this morning I was feeling cramps or what I thought were. Now I wonder if it's just a barf reflex that's making my stomach lurch. At one point I had sweat running down the sides of my nose and into my mouth (inside my mask). I had sweat down the back of my neck and down my temples. My glasses were so fogged up I could hardly see. But more than one time I was glad to not be dealing with contacts in that crap. I went in the shower at the end of the day glasses and all b/c they were just so nasty. How do you begin to even process it all? I called Dan today, and when I told him that 18 people took a 3 bedroom home from fully furnished and lived in to bare stud walls in less than 7 hours he couldn't believe it. The power of God at work."

It was amazing each morning as we woke up free of aches and pains, after having worked hard, long, exhausting hours in the humidity and the stench the day before.

The emotions that I experienced were more than I expected. Gut wrenching. To see the hope in the handful that had returned was inspiring. Their entire lives, everything that defined who they had once been, were gone. Homes, cars, furniture. And the details, too. Photo albums, cook books, drawings from the fridge. And yet God is drawing people to Himself through this catastrophe. Incredible, but just like Him to "show up" when people are at the lowest lows. More likely it's just our human nature that refuses to see Him until everything else is stripped away.

One statistic I heard, after one week there: 1/2 of 1%. That's how much of the debris has been cleared. 96,000 square miles have been damaged, by Katrina alone, not to mention Rita or Wilma. In Hancock County, where the eye of the hurricane passed over and camped out for approximately 9 1/2 hours, they are using more than 300 trucks all day everyday to haul away the debris. Hauling in the neighborhood of 40,000 cubic yards per day. As of the 12th, a Wednesday, they had hauled 841,000 cubic yards, by that Saturday it was over a million. And that's the day I was quoted the 1/2 of one percent figure. By the Executive Director of the EPA for the region. He and his wife opened their home to Suzanne and I to wash clothes for ourselves and Chris and Jeff.

I was happy to get "home" again, after 2 weeks of peeing in outhouses and showering in a semi-trailer. But it's difficult to feel at home, when there remain to be so many people without one. It was hard to leave that place. Suzanne and I talked a lot on the drive home. We both find it hard to leave a job unfinished. We don't like to quit half way. We felt, and continue to feel, like we need to stay longer, work harder, sweat more, listen more, love more, hold the hands of more women as they try to get their life back. Until the beach is a beach again - not just a strip of uninviting sand; until the town is a town again - not just a refugee camp; until the cinema has a "Now Showing" listing - not just "Not Showing" listing; until the choices for groceries is more than just the tent in front of the old Walmart or a 35 minute drive. We're talking of going again, to try to do more. In December maybe. Wanna come along?

your host for this episode : carrie; 08:15 PM | Comments (0)

October 07, 2005

the South land

Where to start? You've undoubtedly seen footage of the disaster that is the Gulf Coast. As most of the residents have evacuated or resettled to other parts of the country, their former homes have been left in ruins. Streets, homes, towns, counties as a whole have been transformed into something "you only see in the news".

Our church, Mars Hill, has partnered with International Aid (out of Spring Lake, MI), to aid in the clean up effort. Throughout the day today, the first team leaves. Some in the morning or midday, to stay overnight somewhere along the way, and my carload at 6pm. That's right. I'm going.

Dan's working. I'm not. And though I've been searching, I haven't found. And then this opportunity was announced a couple of weeks ago, that waves of volunteers from our body will be sent to clean up what the waves of the storm have destroyed. So here I go, on to the next adventure.

I would appreciate your prayers as we go. Though not fearful, I am nervous, excited, and a bit scared. I will update our blog as possible (not much probably), and there will be a full report when I return. In the mean time, you can link to the Mars Hill site for a blog from the volunteers.

your host for this episode : carrie; 02:41 PM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2004

Wadi Rum

After our two days in Petra, we took the bus down to Wadi Rum and took a "Jeep tour" in the desert to see the beauty of God's creation, as well as some ancient petrogliphs (that would be really really old grafiti). If you have seen the movie, or know the story of Laurance of Arabia, this is where he spent a good part of his time leading the Arab revolt against the Turkish. It is a beautyful area with red and golden sands and towering rock formations.
We did some hiking there, and visited a rock bridge or two and then spent the night with our new favorite Bedouin, Zedan.

Just a few of the spectacular sites we saw, which pictures cannot do justice to. The red sand, which the girls insisted on stealing, our "jeep" which was actually a Toyota, our camp site and more amazing rocks, but not nessicarily in that order.
Our digital camera decided to call it quits when we got to the Wadi, so we don't have nearly as many photos as we would like to have.

Our Man, Zedan. (photo courtesy of Melinda)

Zedan reading our favorite book!

your host for this episode : carrie; 05:34 PM | Comments (0)

Petra

We took advantage of the long weekend for the Eid marking the end of Ramadan, and went with some friends to Jordan. We took the night bus to the Red Sea, and then the ferry across. On the boat, we ran into a friend of Melinda's, Paul, who was travelling with his brother and a few friends. We ended up staying at the same hotel (the Valentine Inn - great by the way, regardless of what the Lonely Planet says), and for the same amount of time too!

The first day, we explored Petra with Melinda, who's visited there once before and knew the "must see's" of the place. We arrived late, starting down the Siq (that crack in the rock) at 8am, and walked the 1.2km down hill until we arrived at the Treasury, that great monument made famous in Indy's movie "The Last Crusade". We snapped some shots and continued on.

* *

We climbed then to the "High Place" where the Nabatean's had set up a place of sacrifice. We sat for a while and enjoyed the views over the valley below and ate our lunch. From the High Place we took the back way down, towards the museum, enjoying more fantastic sights, and loving the protection offered by the surrounding rocks from the sun and wind.

Then off to the Monastery up another mountain, and more fantastic veiws. The facade of the Monastery is similar to that of the Treasury, and though less intricate it is much bigger and more impressive as it's so out of the way and you can get back far enough to take it all in. There were some locals playing the lute and a fife (similar to a guitar and a flute) inside and the sound: WOW! Such beauty. We left just before sundown to truck it back to the entrance for our shuttle back to the hotel, and we barely made it in time. It is 8 km from the Monastery to the entrance of the site, and we figure we logged approximately 24 kilometers that day - that's 15 MILES!!!

On the second day we merged with Paul's group and explored the "super secret back entrance" to Petra, which would be cool even if it did not lead into this ancient city.

We climed to the top of the mountian oposite the High Place where we were the first day, and were rewarded with a view that the camera cannot convey. Looking down on the theater, and the size comparison of the people to the monuments was amazing. On our way down we passed the "Corinthian" so named because of the Corinthian columns. This monument is unique in that it is the only one in Petra which is both carved in, and build. It seems that the mountian was not big enough for their idea, so they added to the top left hand corner in order to complete the facade.

We also made our first attempt at Geocaching while in Petra. Something that we have wanted to try, but never really got around to until now. It was fun, even if Paul, Neal and Melinda actually take the credit for the actuall find. Definately going to do that again. If you have a GPS reciever, or even if you don't check it out, it is a cool game. http://www.geocaching.com

On the way out we stoped at the theater to get a look at it from up close instead of up high, and took one last look at the Treasury before going back up through the Siq.

* *

The Valentine put on a scrumptuous buffet for dinner every night that we were with them, including a special in-the-ground BBQ on the last night in celebration of Eid, and then it was on to Wadi Rum.

***Special thanks to our good friend Melinda for leting us steal her photos. All Photos named "Jordan from Melinda ##" are courtesy of Melinda.

your host for this episode : carrie; 05:06 PM | Comments (1)

September 10, 2004

More on Cyprus

On the 23rd of August we packed our bags and boarded an EgyptAir flight to the island of Cyprus for a week holiday (that would be vacation for those of you who aren’t familiar with the “English” language). After our month with the kids and having been in Egypt for nearly a half a year, it was a welcome break.
We had hoped to get to Europe or some place with at least a chance of rain, but when we checked the prices of airline tickets it was ludicrously expensive. Suffice it to say that we flew to Cyprus and paid for lodging for the week for less than it would have cost for one of us to fly anywhere in Europe.

For those of you who are geographically challenged, Cyprus is the island in the upper right hand corner of the Mediterranean Sea that looks vaguely like the USA as drawn by a person from Maine. Ok, so it doesn’t look anything like the USA, but it should help you find it on a map.
Some of our good friends here used to live in Cyprus and so had some suggestions for us as far as sight seeing, where to stay, etc. We stayed in a camping area near the village of Trodoos. I use the term village loosely as even Ellsworth, where Carrie grew up, is much larger.
The camp was a small grouping of canvas “safari” tents, each furnished with cots, a small kitchenette, table and chairs set up on a concrete pad. It was more of a canvas cabin than a tent, what with the electric lights, and all.
It was very nice to be able to lie in bed at night and hear the sound of a car, a single car, distinguishably a single car, driving on the nearby road. The sound, or rather lack of sound, of the forest at night and the crisp air made for good sleeping. We spent most of our waking hours hiking in the forests near the camp and spending time with each other, instead of just being in the same place.

We hired a car, or rather a Kia “Pride” (try marketing that in the US), which is essentially a stripped down Ford Festiva (which I didn’t think was possible until I saw a Kia Pride). It was nice to have our own set of wheels, even if they were tiny roller-skate wheels, although the right hand drive made it that much more adventuresome, and more than once we found ourselves on the wrong side of the road.
We didn’t let the fact that we were driving a faded red roller-skate keep us on the paved roads. No, we assumed that a road labelled “loose surface all weather” would be fine. As it turns out a “loose surface all weather road” in the mountains of Cyprus looks rather like the Jeep trails in the UP, only with more hairpin switch backs and less mud. Looking back we should have anticipated the road conditions, as even the paved roads were narrow, and often full of switchbacks.

All things considered our Pride performed quite well, or at least it never left us stranded. We took one day to drive down to the coast and visit wine country.

Actually most all of Cyprus is wine country, but some areas have more vineyards than others. We visited two different wineries and bought several bottles to bring back to Egypt. We also took some time to go swimming in the Mediterranean and visit the “Baths of Aphrodite” which is a natural grotto with a pool and water trickling down the rocks where they say Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty, used to bath. It was very pretty but not what we were expecting for a place called the “Baths of Aphrodite”. A more fitting name might be “Aphrodite’s Bath Tub”.
While it almost never rains in Cyprus during the summer we did find four different waterfalls to stand under to simulate the feel of rain.

There are only a few rivers in Cyprus that have a continuous flow, and our camp was near to two of them. Again "river" is a subjective term. Back in Michigan a stream of this size would not be on any maps, except perhaps the USGS quadrangle maps, and most certainly would not be called a river. In any case, the small mountain streams, affectionately called rivers, were indeed a source of refreshment for us. While the majority of the forest in the area is black pine, and quite sparse, along the banks of the rivers there are Oak, Maple, Sycamore, and many other deciduous trees and undergrowth, including black raspberries, that make up a “riverine forest”, much like the forests we are familiar with.
We enjoyed some of the foods that are hard to come by here, such as bacon with our eggs, pork chops, ham, and sausages (again with pork in them), and BLT’s. We also enjoyed the Cypriot specialty, Halloumi cheese, which is a goat & cow cheese which tastes somewhat like mozzarella and is generally served fried. We enjoyed fresh milk that actually tasted like milk, good wine that was cheaper than bottled water, and of course the pork.
Even though Cypriots speak Greek, or rather a dialect of Greek, it was a good change. Actually most of the Cypriots who we had contact with spoke very good English, but more than anything it was good to spend time in a place where traffic rules were obeyed, there was mowed grass in the roundabouts, people actually drove without honking their horns, and where there was plenty of wide open GREEN spaces.