Learning and understanding

June 26, 2010 It’s been a month (well, just over) since I got back and I have spent the better part of it returning to reality.  The transition has removed the glamour of travel somewhat… although not completely.  I’m trying to hold to my resolution, and I think that I have.  You’ll need to ask my friends if they see any difference.. I do find my thoughts straying often back to Jordan, and to Petra.  I don’t know, and I don’t think I will for certain, if my fascination is due to the strangeness and difference, and if it will fade with distance… and whether I am romanticizing it beyond all reality.  I have a strong urge to return and see it again.  I dream of going back, and of walking through the streets of Medaba again.  Don’t ask me why Jordan, and why not somewhere else.  So, that’s my next trip.  I will either fall even further in love with it, or the rose coloured glasses will fade, and I will decide that I don’t need to return quite so often.  I have, though, really come to app

OK, I admit it, I thought I could be a little lazy and just post my pictures on Facebook.  But apparently laziness is not something to be encouraged (YAY you guys) so there were some other options.  I have finally uploaded some of my 800 photos for you to see (really, there's no need to see the 300 or so of the desert... or the 30 of the rock formations at Petra, and definitely you don't need to see when my fecachta camera decided to prove the frailty of all mechanical devices and not take the pictures I wanted,but instead some photos of my shirt!!)  For those of you who've seen my FB photos, there's some that aren't there, although the majority are.  If you want to wade through to find the extra 25 or so, kudos.  There are still remarkably few pictures of food.  I was too busy eating in the Arab countries, and far too discouraged in Israel to follow the 15th commandment and document all of life.  (As a side note, Fr. Leo finally saw some of my FB albums and comment

May 25, 2011 The journey’s over now, and I’m on the BA flight back to Port of Spain.  I’ve got a certificate that names me a Jerusalem Pilgrim, “one who has, in accordance with the Biblical prophecy, gone up to Jerusalem to receive the blessing.” Perhaps it’s that, but for the first time ever I went through airport security (in Tel Aviv, world’s notoriously most secure airport) and did NOT beep or have to undergo secondary search.  Normally I get the pat down and “Could you please step over here, ma’am?  Would you mind removing your shirt?” etc, but not here.  X-ray of the bags, couple of questions on my Jordanian ceramics, and off I went. I had time for several deep thoughts on the flight back, and before that.  Plus, I had some long conversations with both Frs. Donovan and Brennan.  Fr. Leo has been a dear friend for a really long time; over 25 years.  More than ever, in the past 2 weeks, it has struck home that he is a very good man.  He is one of the few people I know who sees

May 23 2011 It’s THE day.  The climb of Mt Calvary, along the Via Dolorosa (the Path of Tears) to Golgotha, carrying the cross.  We started out early to beat the crowds to the Lion Gate (which is adorned with leopards, placed there by the Ottomans) and began at the Franciscan monastery, after having been accosted by only 5 vendors.  It was the most unique Stations of the Cross that I’ve ever done, and that includes the years when I dramatized them.  The Stations are laid out in the streets, which are narrow and walled, paved with cobblestones, worn slick by the passage of millions of feet and cars.  As we walked (and occasionally knelt on these stones) the shops opened for business, cars would sometimes try to pass each other (on streets barely wide enough for one) and the prayers would be interrupted with a shout of “Car!” or “Van!” and a mad rush to line the sides in single file.  The eighth and ninth stations are in a cavern below street level, then the tenth is behind the church (

May 22 2011 The world did not end, after all.  Not surprising LOL  Today we went to Masada, Qumeran, Jericho and the Dead Sea – the lowest point on the planet; 400m below sea level.  Oh, and we have a new guide. Masada is the desert fortress of King Herod, perhaps the “mountain retreat” of King David, and it fell in 73CE to the Romans, where (according to Josephus) the Jews committed suicide rather than be taken captive.  The motto of the Israeli army was “Masada shall not fall again” – until it finally occurred to someone that murder/suicide is not something to glorify.  There’s a couple of questions about that story for me – for one thing, Josephus put together his account second-hand, and it’s based on a Roman sense of honour.  For another, suicide is complete anathema to Jews.  And the account of the battle has a few flaws, but all that aside… Masada is breathtaking.  Standing at the top of Herod’s palace, there is a sweeping view of the desert for hundreds of miles in all direc

May 21, 2011 Today is apparently the day the world ends.  I’ll wait to see.  Meanwhile, we went into the Old City, along the Palm Sunday path, through the garden of Gethsemane (had Mass in the church of All Nations, where apparently the Agony in the garden took place) A large, beautifully frescoed exterior, and a dark, cavernous interior.  We walked along the Mount of Olives, and at the top, Fr. Brennan sang again “The Holy City” in the open air, against the backdrop of the Dome of the Rock, and the ancient walls of Old Jerusalem with the Golden Gate sealed shut awaiting the Coming of the Messiah.  He’s 75, his voice no longer has its full power, but it did stop the other groups for a while.  What a memory.   Fr. Brennan at the Mt. of Olives We then went to the place where Mary was assumed into heaven – a beautiful church.  I thought it was Orthodox, but the guide assures me that it’s Catholic.  We then visited Caiaphas’ house, where Jesus was held by the Sanhedrin (in a rather sp

May 20, 2011 I decided to allow myself a day of being sick on Thursday, and skipped the tour.  I stayed in the hotel and spent most of the day sleeping.  One of my better decisions, as I no longer feel like an overused dish rag.  Even Tiberias doesn’t look quite so seedy, and I enjoyed going for a short walk after dinner and walking through the little stalls to see the “Made in China / India” authentic Israeli souvenirs.  Just like everywhere else LOL So this morning we’re headed up to Jerusalem.  It’s “up” because (according to our now-Jewish evangelical) Jerusalem sits at the highest point in all of Israel, and it’s a blessing to go there for the Jews.  Our first stop is the Jordan river, where there are some adult baptisms being performed in yet another kibbutz-run shopping mall (everything is for the community! Low prices – which is why olive oil costs twice as much here as in the supermarket!)  Some notable names adorn this wall, presidents, heads of state – several American pas

May 18, 2011 Now finally, Israel.  The first location is Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee (or as the guide keeps reminding us, it’s not a sea, it’s a lake.  The lowest freshwater lake in the world.)  After Jabra, I’m not happy with this one.  Heck, I’m not happy with her after Adel, our Egyptian guide!  She’s “a New Yawk Jew who moved to Is-reel-ell” some yeahs ago, and the Lawd Jeez-us revealed himself to her in a great and personal way”  She needs to “believe” that the “dear Lawd” was personally present” at each location we visit, and she takes painstaking effort to describe the scenes, including the eucalyptus trees (which are not native to Israel) in the picture.  I get it, I do.  But when, today, she tried to convince us that a boat that was hauled out of the lake was “the very one that Jesus travelled in” my patience left the room and hasn’t returned.  I next expect that there will be “authentic pieces of the True Cross” and “genuine pieces of Jesus’ robe” either on display or up

May 16 & 17 2011 I take back every even passingly negative thought about Jordan.  I see now that the minor inconvenience at the beginning was just so I could fall totally and completely madly in love with the country.  I admit that I’m in a minority with this, as the rest of the group is much less enamoured of the Hashemite Kingdom than I am.  (It may have something  to do with the guide, but I digress)  I may be a closet Arab. From breakfast on the first day, when they served an almost all-Jordanian buffet, I was dancing with joy (tired from 3 hours sleep, but delighted at the local food.)  Then we went to Petra.  Words fail me when I try to describe the red city.  It took 4 hours. almost 5, and we only made it past the Necropolis. My camera died on the way in, too, so I have only about 90 photos.  To see it in full would take, according to Jabra (our guide, aka James) about a week.  Lunch was at a wonderful Jordanian buffet restaurant, and again, I was in heaven.  I spent the a

May 15 2011 Today was the intended hike to the top of Mt. Sinai, beginning at 1:30am.  So the group was to assemble in the reception of Morgenland Village to begin the hike up “The Mountain of Moses” which would take 2 hours up and 3 hours down.  At 1:30, I was curled up fast asleep and did not stir until 5:15, when I looked at my watch in panic and thought that it was almost 9am and I had 10 minutes to catch the tour bus! I went for a short walk around the village (resort) which is located in the Sinai valley.  The mountains are red, the land is rocky and red, there are few plants, and in the early morning the air is crisp.  I spent a while talking to a Bedouin trader (we’re now at 750 camels, 100 goats and a horse) and bought a beautiful shawl, and have a down payment of 3 charm bracelets.  My mother is considering life as a livestock owner. Our first stop this morning was at the Monastery of St. Katherine, which is built at the site of the Transfiguration.  Also there is Moses’ w

May 14, 2011 Today we leave Cairo and head into the Sinai desert, following in the footsteps of the Holy Family, Moses and countless other prophets.  It’s also the day of the promised hike up Mt. Sinai, which i can tell you i will not be doing.  The first stop was was at the cave (now a church) where the Holy Family stayed when they fled into Egypt.  Also there is the Ben Ezra synagogue, St. Barpara’s church, and a Coptic church – St. Sargius and St. Wackus.  Beautiful ikons in the church, which is the oldest in Egypt.  The synagogue is decorated in an Islamic style, and there is, as with every other church we’ve seen, a mosque nearby.  This country seems to be a model for side-by-side religious co-existence, as there are mosques inside of churches, and vice-versa! After a quick drive through old Cairo, we headed to the Eastern desert. Cairo’s slums, even seen from the comfort of a bus, are not something one wants to see up close.  There are some scary looking buildings, and filth is

May 13 2011 I’ve joined the throngs of people who’ve fallen in love with Egypt.  Hard to say why, exactly.  It’s dusty, filthy, the traffic is enough to make you cling to your hotel and never ever want to venture out into the streets (Oh the drivers are insane!) and honestly, the vendors and touts don’t give you a minute to BREATHE at the tourist sites.  For all that, the people are charming, the smiles are so free and easy, there is laughter everywhere, the scenery is stunning, and the food is wonderful.  I even enjoyed riding a camel!  (Yes, they do stink.  But they’re a surprisingly fun ride.) Then of course, Egyptology is fascinating.  So today’s trip included a visit to the Cairo museum, which does not allow photographs (sadly)  It’s a magnificent building, and the displays are beautiful. King Tut’s treasures are astonishing.  I would have liked more time there, and perhaps some time in Luxor or Alexandria.  And I could definitely use some time cruising the Nile! I didn’t kno

May 11, 2011 It’s departure day, and I’m now sitting at the airport waiting for the flight.  You’d think that excitement would be high, but somehow… not exactly.  I flew in from Canada on Monday morning (and I have to say that business is the ONLY way to travel! May I, in my next job, be able to fly business at all times, even for personal travel, and that on at least a semi-annual basis!)  I digress.  I’ve spent 2 days at home, including being able to have a delightful birthday breakfast with my dear friend.  (Not my birthday, that’s next month) And now at the airport.  Check in was the usual hassle, and the flight will, apparently, be full.  Fr.  Leo has lost more weight, and seems to have aged lots since February.  Our group comprises Mummy (Lydia); Auntie Ming; Doris; Doreen and me, plus about 40 other people.  ---- Thurs am.  Have landed in London Gatwick, and are en route to Heathrow bound for the Cairo flight.  My initial impression of the organizer has not improved much.. I

My long awaited, half-dreaded, but much talked-about trip to Egypt, Israel and Jordan is about to begin, and I’m preparing to go.  And as it’s a once-in-my-lifetime experience, I thought I’d begin by documenting the experience before I get on the plane, and share the fun. So this all began about a year ago when my mother said that there was a pilgrimage being organized out of St. Anthony’s parish in Petit Valley, Trinidad, led by my dear friend Fr. Leo Donovan, O.P. and she very much wanted to go.  It would cost, she said, not that much, only TT$29,000 (at the time, about CA$6,000) per person, and how wonderful it would be if her children would provide this as a birthday present to her.  Collectively, her children said “Oh, a pilgrimage to Israel, how lovely.  Yes, that would be a nice thing for you to do!  Weren’t you there before, with Fr. Leo, on another pilgrimage?  Do you really need to go again?”  Some more discussion followed, and long story short, I wound up with the group hea

So this was the last week of my “buy nothing new” programme.  Overall, I’ve learnt that I really do NOT need to go buy new stuff on a regular basis, and I can manage just fine, spank you, with a list and by planning out menus and doing all the things that my grandmother and aunt and mother had said all those years ago.  More than that, doing my shopping this way and taking the time to prepare my meals has led to me eating better and having more tasty and generally more balanced meals than I would if I ate in restaurants all the time.  OK, so I’ll stop preaching now.  It’s easy to get busy and lose time to cook.  Or to have other things to do… it happens all the time.  But did I really NEED 4 different types of skin moisturizer?  Or 3 different 12” skillets?  (well, yes to both, and there are some excellent explanations, but I digress.)  Next phase is to go through my cupboards and do some very thorough organizing, and work on making some space in my very crowded closets.  This is befor

Happy Easter!  It’s almost the end of my pre-determined period of restraint, and I’m determining my priorities from here on out.  THE TRIP is 2 weeks away, so there’s some spare spending money ; all of my credit cards are paid off, and I’ve learnt some new recipes.  There were some real benefits to this!  I think the next phase will be to clear out the stuff in the freezer in preparation for the summer’s influx of fresh stuff.  Oh, the fresh stuff that’s not trucked in from half a world away!  Yippee!!  I must admit, though, that this week was not a gourmet delight… I had lunch out twice (allowed!) and the rest of the week was “student fine dining” or the amazing “must-goes” LOL This week’s menu: KD with corn salsa Roast chicken, mashed potatoes and corn Spinach rice, grilled mushrooms, orange-glazed carrots and grilled salmon ( Good Friday fish dinner )

So this week, I was trying out some new recipes from a cookbook that I’ve had for a couple of years.  It’s Infusion , by Paul Yellin, and it features some beautiful, elegant recipes with a little zing from rum (in the book, Mount Gay Barbados rum, but it’s improved by the addition of some Angostura 1919 or even some Royal Oak, but that’s enough free advertising for the distilleries!)  Dinners (and therefore lunches) were taken from this book, except for my original inspiration!  There’s a free day – I allowed myself a day off, which I spent hunting for assorted papers.  Yes, it happens.  I also got calls from a couple of my favourite stores, telling me that they weren’t hitting their sales targets… On the menu this week: Roasted duck breast in a coconut curry sauce with basmati rice and spinach Mushroom-spinach flan in a rice crust ( an original recipe! ) Un-fried chicken with a spicy banana ketchup and champ

Ok, so I had to pause for a while.  There’s just too many of them.  I ran across some lists of “100 classic books to read” and “The 100 best fantasy books” and so on, and realised that there’s just so many that I can’t keep up (and FYI, on the alleged BBC 100 best books of all time, I’m a nerd.)  Continuing: Watership Down – Richard Adams. Really classic.  I found it hard to get past the first couple of chapters, but it was worth it… it then got hard to put down!  A tale of a group of rabbits and how they escaped to make a home, and all their battles. Animal Farm – George Orwell. If you haven’t heard of this one, then I think you probably slept through a large chunk of literature classes. 1984 – George Orwell. Ancient history by now, but it’s still an interesting read.  Along with Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) it’s one of the views of the future that seemed so plausible, yet didn’t quite work out that way.  Thankfully. The Wind in the Willows – Kenneth Graeme There’s not

Week 6 Back on track again; I made and carried lunches, and recouped from last week's slide.  I'm getting ready to head off next month to Israel, Egypt and Jordan, so I'm starting to plan my purchases.  Camera seems to have gasped back some life, so I'm debating whether I need a new one (there's a great sale on now, Olympus for $119) or whether this one will last? Also scanning through my sun block, moisturizer, assorted travel kit to ensure that I've got everything (and filling up on sample sizes of stuff) to last the duration of the trip.  Hard to believe that I've done this for so long... and I'm still able to backslide... Thanks to Ramona for the link to the article that pointed out the benefits of retail therapy ! Still have a while to go yet to keep my deal with myself, but there are 3 countries to visit, and there must be stores there... my favourite pair of shoes are, after all, Israeli!!  (And some of my preferred jewelery is of Egyptian desig

Lemonade Barbecue Pork Chops From Food Network -- Diners, Drive Ins & Dives. Sauce : 5 cups lemonade (reconstituted, not concentrate) If you make your own fresh lemonade, by all means use it! 1 1/2 cups tomato ketchup 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup cider vinegar 1/2 cup (1/4 pound) brown sugar 1 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 teaspoons each granulated garlic, onion powder, ground ginger 2 tablespoons each paprika, chili powder 2 tablespoons each fresh finely chopped thyme leaves, oregano leaves, sweet basil leaves, if using dried herbs use 2 teaspoons of each Pork chops: 8 (6 to 8-ounce) center cut pork chops (trimmed somewhat lean to avoid excess grease in baking pan) All-purpose flour lightly seasoned with salt and pepper, (enough to coat chops) Directions In a large bowl or pitcher mix all of the sauce ingredients together. Set aside Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pork chops: Heat a large heavy skillet over medium heat and add enough cooking oil to coat

For March, I decided to start a "buy nothing new" programme.  No real reason; it was just a thing.  The rules I set myself (see how this works?) were simple. No new items.  Only food and hygiene items could be bought new. No impulse buys.  Only items that were on the list for the supermarket could be bought. Lunches and dinners were to be made and carried from home.  A maximum of 2 per week could be restaurant meals.  (Same for teas -- no more than 4 bought per week) Reuse / recycle / repair to the maximum extent possible. This would last until the end of April. Beginning the first week of March, I started by planning weekly menus, deciding on what I would reuse, organizing everything, and expecting things to go smoothly!  YAY me!  I'm including the menus for lunches and dinners (I make dinner and the leftovers become the next day's lunch.  I buy one day, usually Friday, and there's a "mustgo" cleanup on the weekend.)  Saturday is menu planning

Kris had asked for a list of books worth reading, and there's just WAAAY too many to remember.  But here's a beginning with some of my favourites, and others, with no attempt at putting them in a vague sense of categories.  (They're just broken into fiction / non-fiction.  Sort yourselves LOL) Fiction C.S. Lewis -- Complete Chronicles of Narnia These 7 books are wonderfully imaginative, even if they're old now.  They follow the Pevensie children and others into the land of Narnia, and introduce Aslan the Lion, the animals that talk, Reepicheep... and incidental life lessons :)  The Magician's Nephew , The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe , The Horse and His Boy , Prince Caspian , The Voyage of the Dawn Treader , The Silver Chair , and The Last Battle .  Roald Dahl --  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Charlie Bucket lived with his parents and grandparents in a tiny, ramshackle hut at the edge of town.  They were desperately poor, and once a year, on his b