Back to Work?!

March 8, 2011 It’s been almost 3 years since we retired. We’ve gotten spoiled by the freedom of getting up when we want, eating when we want, and staying or going as we please. But last week a request for our help on a cruise ship shore excursion seemed like a fun thing to do and we said, “Yes!” Suddenly things changed. I couldn’t sleep well the night before because I was afraid the alarm wouldn’t go off. (What’s an alarm clock? I hadn’t used one in months!). Then I was stressing about what to wear (something professional-looking, but comfortable enough to wear climbing in and out of a bus). Paul & I were each in charge of a group of 24 adults on our busses. We were supposed to take attendance, tell them about the area as we drove to Larnach Castle, take pictures of the group and assist with any emergencies. The day went smoothly and we all had a great time. As a reward, the tour coordinator “paid us” with a dinner for two at the upscale Pinnacle Grill restaurant with a wine pairing at each course. I guess we can now make up a cardboard sign that says, “Homeless. . . Will Work for Food.”

Learning Kiwi

February 20, 2011
Coming to New Zealand, unlike Europe seemed so easy. We didn’t really know what to expect as far as food, customs and the people; but we knew that we would at least know their language – English. Whew! Well, it didn’t take us long to discover that when New Zealanders (known as Kiwis) speak; we don’t always understand. When our friend Sharon told us that she had 3 Beadrooms; I thought – Wow! She is really into crafts! We now know that a short “e” sound is often pronounced like a long “e”. So Beadroom = bedroom. When Stuart asked if we needed a Chilly Bin, we didn’t know what to say. (It’s a cooler.) At the golf course, did we need to rent a trundler? Should we be offended when a guy described Paul’s watch as ”flash”? While driving - what happens when you read the sign, “Merge Like A Zip” or “Watch for Road Slumps”? What’s easier than ordering a cup of coffee? Not here! Even the smallest diner has a huge list of choices none of which says “coffee”. Choose from flat white, short black, long black, latte, cappuccino, etc. Or would you prefer a “cuppa”? Ok, that’s getting confusing; let’s just order a burger. What kind would you like? A fish burger, chicken burger, egg & bacon burger? When we asked what a fish burger was, we were told you just cut the burger in half and put in the fillings you want. (That didn’t sound appetizing.) But later we found out that “burger” means “bun”! In the supermarket, we couldn’t find hamburger at all – it’s “mince”. You should have seen our faces when our hosts were talking about a party that they had attended. They said they got home, went to bed and just as he was turning off the light he realized, “Crykey Dick! We didn’t even have tea!” (Only later did we find out that “tea” means “supper”.)
NZ has been a pleasant surprise for us. We thought the country would be beautiful, but it has exceeded our expectations. The influence of “Mother England” is still strong; but the younger people seem to be thinking less as “colonials” and more as independent citizens. The Maori (native islanders) are fully involved in the government and have at least two bi-lingual channels on TV. We love the Kiwi customs like offering a small pitcher of milk “for your tea” to renters in every place we have been (hotels, B&Bs, apartments and rental homes); seeing Lawn Bowling Clubs in full white uniform (including safari hat, shirt, shorts, long socks and soft soled shoes); watching Black Caps cricket matches that go on for days (and break for tea); All Blacks rugby matches dominating the sport scene; finding that small grocery stores (called dairies) don’t carry mustard – and ketchup is known as tomato sauce; using an electric wall plug is a two-step process (first you need to flip a switch on the plate to get it to engage); discovering that many local golf courses are on the honor system for paying green fees (just put your money in a box) and to use rental clubs, get them out of the shower in the men’s bathroom. “Good on you” for not cheating the system. Be sure to leave everything the way you found it, no littering, please recycle. Live and let live. Paul’s even getting used to driving on the left side of the road. Brilliant!

Pub Night in New Zealand

January 28, 2011 We have been skirting natural disasters for a month now. While we were in New Zealand’s North Island enjoying beautiful weather, there was another earthquake in Christchurch on the South Island. A couple of days after we played golf in Rotorua, there was a huge brush fire on the course and yesterday they had an earthquake. When we arrived on the South Island, the North was hit by torrential rains and major flooding has covered parts of Auckland and other cities we just visited. Today we are in Cape Foulwind (which is about 6 miles from Westport, right on the Pacific coast – called the Tasman Sea here). I am sitting at our kitchen table looking at a fantastic flower garden and out to the sea – watching breakers hit some huge rocks (called the Steeples) jutting out of the water. This location is so beautiful that even though we had reserved 3 nights here, we have decided to extend to 4 nights. It is just breathtaking. Pauline and Bruce, who own the property, are so nice that we felt like we had known them all of our lives the minute we met. She wanted us to come over to her house for a glass of wine last night and then she drove us to her favorite local pub, The Star Tavern, for dinner. That was a hoot. We were the only non-locals; and wearing jeans and collared shirts, we were way over-dressed. Come as you are was just that. Fishermen, still in boots; some left their boots at the door and were just in socks. We loved it! People just being real, without pretense. The atmosphere was fantastic. Lots of people came up to us to find out who we were, introduce themselves, shake hands, etc. The food was great, too – Paul had a falling-off-the-bone lamb shank with a medium dark Tui beer and I had a Fisherman’s bucket (rig – a kind of shark, scallops, mussels, squid) – all caught that day – with the local Sauvignon blanc. A family band started at 7PM and people were dancing and singing along. The pub owner’s dog let himself in and out of the sliding glass door, greeted the customers, played with the kids and fell asleep near the sofa. We were close to our cottage, so we walked home. What a great opportunity to be part of lives that are so different from ours.

"Full Moon" on a Caribbean Island

November 15, 2010 It was a perfect day on the island of Grand Turk. Paul & I were relaxing on padded lounge chairs in the shade of a coconut palm tree looking at white sand and crystal blue water. Paradise! While I sat there half asleep, to my left I thought I saw a naked man’s bottom standing next to me. OMG! I jolted from my reverie and swatted Paul sitting at my right. At first he was upset that I had disturbed his rest, until he looked up. I said, “Can you believe this?” The man continued putting on clothes and soon was fully dressed in a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, socks and dress shoes. Just as he was finishing, up walked his wife in a black bikini.
I kiddingly said to Paul, “Are you ready for Act 2?” Well, the joke was on me! The man dried her off with a towel; and when she lowered her top in full view of both of us, she replaced it with a dry ---- BIKINI TOP! Then the man made a tent of a towel around her as she took off her bottoms – only to replace them with another pair of bikini bottoms!!! The two of them sat back down on their chairs in the shade – she in the “dry” bikini, he in business clothes and both of them went to sleep. OK, I get it. We’re not in Kansas, Dorothy.

Our first encounter with the Chinese - Getting the Visa!

September 30, 2010 As usual, we had a whole list of things we wanted to see and do while visiting our sister and brother-in-law in Chicago. But the most important thing was getting a Visa to enter China on our trip next spring. It turns out that there are only three places in the USA where you can personally pick up a Visa – L.A., D.C. and Chicago. If you don’t go to one of these places, you have to pay extra to have a middle-man type company process your application. Sounds simple. We found the Chinese Embassy website and then the fun started. We are leaving the USA on Jan. 2 and won’t be in China until April 23. We won’t be in Chicago again this year, though. So we wanted to apply 8 months in advance. There are three types of Visas – valid for 3 months, 6 months and 1 year. We wanted the year. Good news - all of them cost the same. Bad news – 3 month Visas are for single entry; 6 month are for 2-3 entries; and one year is for multiple entries. We were hoping that since we will be there for 4 days, that that would count as multiple entries. The problem was that Hong Kong (2 of those days) doesn’t count as a Chinese city and doesn’t require a Visa.
Well, we arrived at the Embassy address and, guess what? They’ve moved! Thank goodness, they were only a couple blocks down the street. When we arrived at 11:00AM, there was a large room full of people, a take-a-number machine and lots of folding chairs in rows. We were number 078 and they were calling 048. Uh, oh. Thirty people to be processed ahead of us and they were closing for lunch at noon. We visited with some American business men who had been through this before, and they were less than encouraging. We found out the application forms on the web were not current and we needed to fill out new ones located on a counter in the room. We quickly wrote in all the information.
At noon, there were only 5 numbers ahead of us. Amazingly, they did not stop and our number was called. We walked up with big smiles, our passports, immunization records, the filled in applications and passport photos. The woman behind the window was surly, to say the least. We had two questions – which didn’t help the situation. May we apply for the year Visa, even if we are only going to be in China for two days? “You want year Visa?” Yes. “You apply year Visa.” Yes, but will they allow that? It says you need multiple entries? “You apply year Visa.” OK, we’ll mark that box. (Does that mean we can get it?!) Next question: Today is Thursday. We would like to pick up the Visa on Monday. It says expedited processing takes 3-4 days. Will the Visa be ready on Monday? (“A string of words we didn’t understand, ending with “Monday”.) I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. I rephrase my question trying to speak very clearly and smile a lot. Can we come on Monday to pick up the Visa? (“Another string of garbled words ending with “Monday”.) Then we’re coming back on Monday, OK? No answer, but she writes Monday on our claim check. We hand her all of our paperwork, passports and photos. She grabs her scissors and with a flash of deft origami cuts that even Edward Scissorhands would envy, she snips our photos to the proper size and staples them to the applications. We leave the Embassy. Who knows what just happened? We didn’t pay any money and all we have is a claim check.
On Monday, we arrived in the afternoon; just to give them more time to process our applications. We saw the same huge crowd; but with our claim check, we were pointed to a different line and in 5 minutes we were greeted by a smiling Chinese woman who spoke beautifully in English. She took our claim check and retrieved our passports from her file. Of course she was smiling . . . “That’ll be $320.00, please.”

Ring the Bell

February 25, 2010 Yesterday we entered a new world. We had looked forward to this day for over 20 years – ever since we met our friends, César and Yolanda, in the USA. We arrived early in the morning for the first time in Ecuador. The heat and humidity were already apparent as we viewed the lush green strip of land along the Guayas River from the cruise ship deck. Outside the port entrance, we met César Jr. who escorted us on a 2 hour sight-seeing tour of Guayaquil. We loved the new Malecón area of the city with its beautiful parks, recreation and shopping areas in spite of the fact that for a short time we walked in a tropical shower. César Jr. explained that people get used to the heat - only the first 20 years are the worst!
At 12:30PM we drove to César and Yolanda’s home. We were greeted by a servant who opened the gate surrounding their home, and soon Yolanda stood in the doorway to welcome us. The one story and well kept exterior belied the elegant interior of the home. The rooms were filled with beautiful paintings, lovely furnishings and a crystal chandelier. Our host, César, sat behind a leather bar in the corner and greeted us warmly. And then to our surprise, he picked up a 5 inch brass bell sitting near him and rang it loudly. What was he doing? Is this what Ecuadorians do to welcome visitors to their home, like ringing in the New Year? The question was soon answered as two servants appeared – one with a tray of hors d’oeuvres, the other with champagne that was quickly poured. Next was, of course, pre-lunch cocktail time – with vodka tonics served after another ringing of the bell.
We left the intimate bar area and walked to the lovely dining room already set with fresh flowers, beautiful china and crystal. We sat down and the bell was rung, sparkling wine was poured to accompany the shrimp cocktail served in martini glasses; the bell was rung, plates were removed; wonderful fish soup with Chilean sea bass was presented; the bell was rung, Argentine red wine was poured; and an array of sliced pork, avocados, corn, tomatoes, heart of palm, asparagus, dill pickles, yellow rice with peas & carrots all artistically presented were served. The bell was rung, plates were removed; slices of pecan pie were served followed by coffee and cognac.
With sadness we left our amazing and generous friends. We will miss them. . . and their magic bell!

Illegal aliens?! - US!!

September 29, 2009 Today started off as just another beautiful day here in Poland. We were driving along one of the back roads - stopping at villages to take pictures of farmers with horses pulling wooden carts, women in dresses with headscarves raking straw in the fields, and all the other sights that an American would find interesting. Paul was following another car slowly through a village, when two police men waved us over to a parking lot. What could be wrong? We weren’t speeding or tailgating. The officer, in limited English, identified himself as a border guard and asked for our car registration papers, passports, Paul’s driver’s license and his International Driver’s license. Uh, oh. The International Driver’s license was in back in our hotel room. No problem (whew). The guy seemed really nice. But then the two officers started looking at all the stamps in our passports. Back and forth they kept flipping the pages, stopping and then flipping some more. We realized that they were looking for our entry date into the EU. Before we came to Europe we had looked at length of stay requirements on a Tourist Visa, but had seen several lengths of time on the internet; and in the end, just figured it didn’t really matter. Were we legally here for only 90 days or 180?!? I guess it really did matter now. We sat nervously watching from the car. Finally one of officers came over and asked, “You cruise to Portugal May?” “Yes”, we said. He started to get really serious at that point. Our hearts started beating faster. Was it 90 days? Had we overstayed the Visa? Did it expire at the end of August? Were we going to get deported??!!! Paul said, “We were in Russia in August.” “August,” he repeated, “OK.” He went back and said something to his partner. All we thought we understood was “Roosha”. Good enough. He handed us back our documents and we were on our way.