I know, I know, it has been a long time since my last update. But, I have been making every effort to keep as busy as possible and have not had much free time to write. I am now taking a lazy Saturday afternoon to update this page.
In my last update, I mentioned that I have taken some trips and visited a few places around Kagoshima Prefecture. I will now attempt to summarize four months of weekends and time off.
Back in August, when I first got here, I was concerned that without hiking the Inca Trail every month, I would get lazy. So, I put the TV in the closet. Every morning, I either went for a run or a walk before heading to the office. In the evening, I usually ate dinner early and then walked for a few hours until bed time. I make an effort to leave town every weekend, and I started with my second weekend in Kagoshima.
On the 17th of August, a couple of JET friends joined me on a trip to the beach. I picked a place on the map, figured out the bus schedule and packed a lunch. We went to Fukiagehama Beach, about an hour from here. It is a huge beach, and was pretty much empty. The next weekend, we went to Hiyoshi Beach and again, it was mostly empty. Partially, this is because Japanese people tend to avoid the sun in an effort to keep their skin white. But, this particular beach is also empty because this is where the North Koreans used to kidnap Japanese people from in the 70s and 80s. They have since apologized for these actions, but the political fallout has been a top news story for a few months now. Some of the kidnapees have been allowed to return to Japan, without their new North Korean families. They are now being held here, but I am not sure if it is against their will or not. Also, Japan raised a North Korean spy ship that it sank last year. So, it is hard to say why, but the beaches were mostly empty.
The final day of August was a typhoon, so most of the city was closed. I took a great five hour walk in the rain and found some great nearby hill tops. I plan on returning to them sometime when it is not raining and enjoying the views.
In September, I decided to use any free weekend day to walk around the prefecture. I figure it will take about 40 days of walking to circle the whole prefecture. So, on any free day, I take a bus to where I last left off and walk all day, usually about 15 or 20 miles. On the 1st of September, I started my effort with a walk from Kushikino, along Fukiagehama beach, to Fukiage town. It was a long, but enjoyable day.
The next weekend, I returned to the beach for some swimming and to watch the surfers. On the 8th of September, I went up to Hayato town. The local yacht club was hosting an international exchange event. About 80 guests, foreign and Japanese, came and took part. Each boat took a few passengers on as crew and we raced to some islands. Once we got there, we swam and had a BBQ. Every team won a prize. For those of us who finished pretty low in the rankings, we received ketchup and some instant noodles. In Japan, often it is not the gift that counts, but the idea.
The next day, I went to the a lakeside retreat in Kanoya. It was a week-long culture and language seminar for 24 new ALTs. In the mornings we studied Japanese and in the afternoon we did cultural projects. I made my own paper lampshade for a lamp and we also made some small reed mats. I spent the early mornings and early evenings exploring the countryside and went for some great walks. I discovered a long abandoned shrine deep in the woods on a mountainside.
I came back to town on the 13th of September and took the night ferry to Amamioshima Island with a few other JETs. The next day we arrived at the island and went to stay with our friend, Steve. We went straight to the beach of this tropical island and went snorkeling. I saw some of the prettiest fish and most colorful coral of my life in my first hour there. I also had a chance to do some scuba diving, and was reminded again of how peaceful it is under the water.
The 16th of September was Respect for the Aged Day. We took a water taxi to an even smaller island and watched a very small town festival. All the Junior and Senior High School students participated in a Sumo contest. Some of the old people played music and sang. Every one ate. We were invited to join and soon Daniel and I were requested to step up to the sumo area and wrestle. I managed to trip him up in the first round, but he pushed me out of the ring in round two. In the final round, I prevailed and was awarded with a giant bottle of shochu (potato alcohol).
On the 19th of September, I took a ferry to Yakushima Island. Yakushima is a UNESCO world heritage sight and I had a great five days there hiking and swimming. There are giant cedar trees on the island, and I saw many monkeys and deer as well. It took me four days to cross the island. I stopped and played in many rivers along the way. I also climbed the highest point in Kagoshima Prefecture, Miyanore Dake. It was over 5,000 feet and pretty cold.
After I reached the other side of the island, I went to one of the best hot springs of my life. It was right on the beach, among a lot of volcanic rocks. For less than a dollar, I could soak in the seaside pool and watch the sun set and the full moon rise. I decide to sleep out on the beach there and wait for the tide to go out. At about 2:00 in the morning, under a full moon, I went down to another set of pools. This set was under the high tide mark, but above the low tide level, so it could only be used in low tide. I had the whole place to myself and soaked in the hot water for a while. It was a very special place.
I really liked Yakushima and have a bunch more activities planned there once the winter is over.
On the 28th of September, I continued my Prefectural walk. From Fukiage Town, I followed the beach for a full day to Kasasa Town. It was another good day and now I have walked the entire 30 miles of the second longest beach in Japan. The next day was Sports Day, as described in my September entry.
The 12th of October was the beginning of another three day weekend. I took a ferry across the harbor to Sakurajima Volcano and then went south, all the way to Cape Sata, the southern most point of 갾mainland갿 Japan. I got there by lunch time and started walking. I walked along the pacific ocean for the rest of the day. The waves were really big and crashed loudly against the rocks. Mostly, though, I was in the hills above the ocean, following the trails.
After a night out in the woods, I continued walking. I saw many wild boar and a couple of snakes. This area of Japan is sparsely populated and I did not see anyone for most of the day. I was following what used to be a narrow one lane road, but was now an overgrown animal track. I eventually made it back to a main road and went home.
The next weekend, I joined a bunch of teachers from Wada Junior High School for a hike up Kurino Dake mountain. It was nice of them to include me in their outing and we did all of the mandatory things. We ate riceballs at the top and then went to a hot spring for a soak afterwards. This one was special because it was muddy and smelled like sulfur. My little white towel is now yellow.
On the 20th of October, I went back to Hayato town for another cultural event. About five ALTs and 20 Japanese people put on samurai costumes and formed the samurai contingent of a big parade. We marched three miles to the harbor and stopped to pray at a bunch of shrines. After lunch and some more bowing in unison and raising our swords, we marched back to the shrine at the start for another 30 minutes of bowing and trying not to fall asleep. It was a long day, but luckily not too hot. The outfits were heavy, but cool looking.
The next Sunday, the 27th, was the Kinpo Marathon. Marathon (marason) is the Japanese word for any running race. This one was five miles long and gained over 1500 feet. About 600 people started the uphill walk 30 minutes before the running race started. At 10:00 on that day, I started my first running race since I quit the Ely High School Cross Country team in 1986. I let most of the people pass me in the flat first mile. Once the uphill started, and it never ended, I began to pass people. Any time I got tired and felt like walking, there was a group of walkers there to cheer me on with shouts of "Ganbatte" and "Fight-O." So, I ran the whole way and finished with at time of 47:42. I was 20th out of 74 in my 30-59 age group. I was pretty happy with the effort.
At the top, they gave us hot soup and riceballs. The race is also known as the "Riceball Run."
After lunch, a group of us went to the local hot spring for a recovery soak.
This month has been busy as well. On the 2nd of November, I went to Kirishima, a mountainous area in the north of the Prefecture. Winter came surprisingly early and we got snowed on. Luckily, after some cold hiking, we had a large number of hot springs to choose from.
I bought a bicycle a few weeks ago. It is a very nice touring bike made by Giant. It has front suspension and panniers and saddle bags. I am looking forward to taking it on a long camping trip. For now, though, I have to be content with riding to school and weekend excursions. My daily commute is now between 20 minutes and 45 minutes to my three schools. In all cases, the bike is faster than the bus, thanks to the fact that I do not get stuck in traffic. I used to study Japanese during the daily commute, so now I have to make the effort to study at night instead.
On the 9th of November, I went to Sakurajima Volcano and rode around it. The 23 miles took about 3 hours. Sakurajima had snow on it for the first time this year, a month earlier than last year, so my morning of riding was pretty cold.
The next day, I went down to Kaimon Dake Mountain with Rie, one of the English teachers at Taniyama Kita Junior High School. We climbed the nearly 3,000 foot mountain and then went to the beach. It was too cold to swim, but this beach was special because the sand is heated naturally from below. We paid our entrance fee and went down to the beach. Five women rapidly dug a hole for each of us. Once we lay down, they buried us. They had little umbrellas to plant in the sand to block the sun from our faces. The sand felt very heavy and started to get pretty hot. I lasted the recommended 15 minutes and then rose from my warm sandy grave.
My weekly routine has settled into a pretty regular pattern. I ride my bike to school, teach a few classes, have lunch with some students, play soccer with the boys or talk to the girls, have another class or two and then head home. If I have the time, I stop by the office for some Internet. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I go to the gym for a workout. On Thursdays, I have Tai Chi class and on Wednesdays I have Japanese class. I also try to run three or four times per week, in the mornings, before school. I am registered for a 6 mile race in January and one in February, so I want to train.
I make an effort to leave town every weekend as well. Often, there is an organized group I can join, like the sailing or marching. Tomorrow, I am headed off with one such group to Kajiki Town for some sword-fighting lessons. Now that I have a bike, I would like to train up to the point where I can ride 60 miles in a day. Once I can do that, I will be able to explore a lot more places on my free days.
I have left out the descriptions of a few other hikes and outings, but I figure you got the idea by now. I am busy on the weekends.
I am making an effort to learn Japanese, and it seems to be going well. The students are happy to help me and I ask them to check my homework for me.
My landlord invites me and another ALT to his house once a month for dinner and a 30 minute English lesson.
I have had dinner at a few other people's houses and have enjoyed each occasion.
When I first got here, in August, I made an effort to eat out at least one time per day. I live near the downtown shopping area of a big city, so there are plenty of choices. I really like sushi, and I think I had sushi five times one week. It is not at all expensive in the cheap places and tastes great. I can now add stringy, smelly fermented soy beans, raw chicken and raw egg to the list of things I have tried.
Now that I eat lunch at school everyday, I do not eat out very much. I think that the students here are very lucky. They get to have Japanese food every day!
I do not know why, but I am still very popular at school. The students wave to me when I get there, greet me in the halls and seem excited to see me when I get to class. Unfortunately, many of the teachers do not really utilize my skills, so the students soon get as bored as I do. But, they are sitting down, so they can sleep. No real effort is ever made to rouse them. The students near the window usually watch the P.E. class play whatever the sport of the month is. This month it has been softball. With all the talking and such in class I do not think that any student beyond the third row can hear the teacher anyway.
In August, we had a prefectural meeting for all of the new ALTs. I spoke with the country JETs and heard about life out there. Most of them are forced to learn Japanese, because no one in their towns or offices speak English. They have a lot of contact with neighbors and community events. They seem to have a good small town life, but many of them need cars to get out of town. In the end, I have decided that the food, events and ease of transport almost balances out the anonymity and crowds of city living.
I have a rice cooker and will make my first home made rice balls this week. I will mix the rice with some sesame seeds and other small tasty things. Then I will form fist sized balls and poke a piece of salmon into the center. Then I will wrap it all with a piece of seaweed and put it into the fridge for the next days snack. I really like riceballs (onigiri) and have been eating a lot of them.
There are convenience stores everywhere. I think I will head to one now for an onigiri. Since I can not read the labels, I am always afraid that I will pick the one with a sour plum inside. But, when I get the salmon filled jackpot, I am very happy.
More when I get the chance.
Saturday, November 16, 2002
Monday, September 30, 2002
My first month of school in Japan, as a teacher
Hello again from the Land of the Rising Sun.
I shall begin with a recap of the events of the past six weeks.
August was spent mostly in the office. I played on the Internet and studied some Japanese. I felt sorry for my co-workers here at the Kagoshima City Board of Education. When I show up at 8:30 they are already hard at work. When I leave at noon for lunch, they are eating at their desks. When I return from lunch at a little before two, they are working again. When I head home at 4:15, they are still hours away from doing the same. And, when I am actually at my desk, they look a lot busier than I do. I cruise the Internet and they push papers.
My fellow office mates all have a locker in the corner of the office. Whenever there is an important meeting, they go over there and put on their ties. Twice a day the OL (office lady) brings us our tea and snack. Now, several weeks later, I miss the office days, but back in August they got to be a bit tedious.
Our office had a welcome party for the six new ALTs (assistant language teachers). We met at a nice restaurant, poured drinks for each other, said a few speeches and ate good food.
For a few days in August, we had a prefectural orientation. Mostly, it was just more boring speeches and some teacher training. My favorite lesson was taught by a Romanian man. He came into the room and spoke to us in Romanian for an hour. He tried to teach us some of the language and we all got to feel like our students feel like in class, when they have no idea what the teacher is saying. We had another Elementary School English Teachers seminar, but it was all in Japanese so I do not know what was said that day.
For four days at the end of August, we taught at an elementary school summer camp. We played some games with the kids and taught them a little bit of English. At that level, they can read the letters and say a few sentences. We taught them the days of the week and the months of the year.
On Monday, the 2nd of September, my real job began. I visit three Junior High Schools. The students range in age from 12 to 15 years old. They are divided into three grades, called first, second and third. Wada-chu JHS has about 1200 students and I spend two weeks per month there. Kamoike JHS has about 400 students and I spend about a week per month there. I also spend about one week per month with the 500 students of Taniyama-Kita JHS.
On the 2nd, I went to Kamoike JHS. I showed up, took off my street shoes, put them in a cubbyhole, and put on my school sandals. Then I was entertained in the Principal's office until it was time for a brief self-introduction. I went into the teacher's meeting and told them that "My name is America" and "I come from Avram". This Japanese stuff can be a bit difficult for me at times.
From there, it was off to the general assembly. School actually starts in April, but since August is a month off, they all have to be reacquainted to school life. The assembly was in the gym, and the students sat on the floor. Everyone left their shoes at the door. I made my first speech ever for 500 people, and I did not even have to wear shoes to do it. I introduced myself briefly in English, gave my extremely short Japanese introduction and listened to a student read a much longer welcome speech to me in Japanese. After a few more speeches, the school day was over and I went home.
For the next two days, I went back to Kamoike and introduced myself to the students. Every student in the schools must take English. So, between three schools, I have 59 classes of 40 students each to visit every month. Lesson planning is nice. I can use the same lesson for a month at a time. At Kamoike, I met my first class of surly third grades. As the oldest students in the school, they have had the most life sucked out of them and are pretty non-responsive and uninterested. My first class bombed, but luckily I had a free period next and I improved it greatly.
Here is what my self-introduction lesson has evolved into. I walk in to either applause or snores. Then they all stand up and say "Good Morning", "How are you?" and "I am fine, thank you." After they sit down, I tell them my name and write it on the board. They can call me Mr. Fox if they want, but we all seem to prefer Avram or Avram-sensei. Next, I hang up a big map and point out Japan, Florida, and many of the countries I have visited. At the end of my five minutes of talking they get to guess the number of countries I have visited (about 40) and my age (30).
Then I hand out a list of picture descriptions and we practice saying them and define the difficult words like 'camel', 'wedding party', and 'mummies'. Next comes the part they all love. I hand out about 25 pictures of me from my travels and they have to match the pictures to the descriptions. They get to laugh at me with long hair and wonder why I was wearing a turban. After we check the answers, if there is more time, they can either ask me more questions or we play Bingo using the words from my handout. And that is that, another 50 minute lesson finished.
In each class, the regular JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) is there to assist me by translating what I say or what the students say. They have also made many suggestions to me which has improved my presentation over the weeks.
For the most part, except for some of the third graders, the students are excited to see me. If properly prepared, I get a nice round of applause when I walk in and some even wave American flags. Also, I am a welcome break from the normal textbook work. Between classes there is a ten minute break. I head to the teacher's room and usually talk to which ever students wander in and feel like talking. In the halls lots of boys will exchange a few words with me. In the teacher's room it is usually girls. They like to tell me I have nice eyebrows, nice eyes, and a big nose (apparently a compliment here). They giggle a lot and I encourage them to keep learning English. It is a lot of fun to walk around school and say hello to every one. When I walk by a class in session, I feel sorry for the teacher, because all of the students lean out the windows to shout 'hello' at me.
The JTEs and other teachers I work with are generally pretty interesting. Many of them can say a few words in English and we can exchange a few pleasantries. Most of the JTEs speak English well enough to have a basic conversation. Some of the JTEs do not speak English very well at all.
The schools do not have any air-conditioning or heat. In early September, the classrooms were very hot. The teachers all raced back to the teacher's room between classes to enjoy the air-conditioning. Many students followed us back. There are always students coming and going from the room. They announce their name and class, state their business, and apologize. Some teacher gives them permission to enter, and then they just mill about for a while, before apologizing again and leaving. In the middle of September, the air-conditioners were turned off for the winter. It has not really cooled off too much, but the air-conditioners and the winter heaters are regulated by an official schedule and not the actual weather conditions.
The students day starts at around 8:15 or so. In their nice school uniforms, they must go to Homeroom for a half an hour. The students stay in the same classroom all day and the teachers move around. At 8:50, first period starts. The classes usually last 50 minutes, but are often shortened so that the students can do some other activity in the afternoon. After the class, there is a 10 to 15 minute break.
After fourth period it is lunch time. Six students from each class put on a hair net and a smock. In one school they also wear a face mask. They head down to the kitchen and bring back buckets of food and a case of milk. They bring the food back to the classroom and portion it out into bowls. They distribute the food to each desk in the classroom and the students all ignore it. When the food distributors of the day are done, and the smocks are put away, they sit down. The teacher leads the "Itadakemasu" (time to eat) and the boys shovel the food in and the girls pick at it. Lunch is enjoyed with classical music from the loud speaker. I have the option of eating in the teacher's room or with the students. I usually eat with the students. Lunch is usually rice, but sometimes bread, a vegetable curry or some-other kind of stew, a small bowl of some sort of fish, and sometimes, a frozen dessert.
After lunch, we shovel the scraps into a bucket, being careful to put the cardboard desert spoon into a separate pile and the desert spoon plastic wrapper into a separate pile and any other container in yet another place. The students bring all the lunch stuff back to the kitchen and then it is free time. Many students play or run around in the school yard. They all wear shorts and a t-shirt under their uniform, so changing takes place in the back of the classroom. Some play cards or visit the teacher갽s room.
After the next bell, everyone goes to their cleaning place and to the sound of fast-paced classical music, cleans. They sweep, mop, scrub and clean the whole school. Of course, they are normal kids and most don't take it too seriously, despite the teacher who helps out in each group. But, as one principal told me, "They are cheap labor". So, the schools never do get a proper, professional cleaning, but the dirt is pushed around real well each day.
After cleaning time, there are one or two more classes. Then the students go to their club activities, usually sports or some activity. Finally, after five, they get to go home. Again, I feel sorry for my co-workers. At the earliest, I show up for first period, but not if I have first period free. The teachers must supervise the after-school activities, but I leave, if I want to, as soon as my last class is over. I can just say that I am going to the office and I can head out. Often, I actually do go to the office, to check my email. As I get to know my schools better, I may stay for some of the activities like archery or aikido.
I have a desk at the BOE. At each school I also have a desk. Actually, I have more than one. Each grade has a teacher's room and they each have a desk for me, except for one. Usually the desk is in the worst place, but it is still mine. So, with three schools of three grades each and one office desk, minus the third grade teacher's room at Taniyama-Kita JHS, I have nine desks. I am also welcome to the snacks and drinks near each one of my desks.
I am amazed by how well everything works at each school. The students are great at re-arranging the classroom to make groups. Also, they do all of the cleaning and food service and moving around the school without any need of supervision and without complaint.
Each school has one troubled girl. She often has her hair dyed, which is against school rules. Her skirt is too short and her eyebrows too plucked. She also wears those 80's push down baggy socks, instead of normal sports socks. She does not go to class, but sits in the teacher's room or an empty room all day. The teachers tell me that she has problems at home.
I do not know what three boys did to make their teacher angry one day, but I did see the teacher whacking them on the heads. He did not hit too hard and they did not try to avoid it.
Another student got an unacceptable hair cut. It was very short on the sides and in the back, but had three inch long hair in the front. Every time I came back to the teacher's room, he was there looking defiant. Teachers took turns yelling at him. I do not know if he went to class or not that day, but it must have been a rough day for him. The next day his bangs were only two inches long, but he was still getting lectured.
Yesterday was Sports Day at the Junior High Schools. I chose to attend the event at Taniyama-Kita JHS. A lot of family members showed up to watch. The students were divided into two teams and ran all sorts of races against each other. They had been rehearsing the ceremonies and events all week. Also, they had spent the previous week putting up the tents, marking the track, and hanging signs. The students ran the whole thing with very little supervision. They did the announcing, timing, event co-ordination, set-up, clean-up and every thing else.
Every Japanese event seems to start with an opening ceremony, and this was no exception.
There was music and marching and flag raising and speeches. After a few events, there was a crowd participation event. At noon, there was a one hour break and everyone had a picnic lunch. After filling up on rice and small Japanese food things, we returned for some more races and activities. The school clubs did a demonstration and I think that the aikido club members look like samurai warriors. The archery club also has cool dresses and big bows. I participated in one event. Each team had to take turns kicking a football (really a rugby ball) across the field, around a cone, and back to the start. Footballs do not bounce very predictably, so I chose to juggle the ball like a soccer ball as I ran. The principal was very impressed and came up to congratulate me after my team one.
After the closing ceremony, the students dismantled the tents, put the chairs and tables away, put all of the equipment away and cleaned up the grounds. Then they went to homeroom class and had a brief meeting before going home. To celebrate another successful Sports Day, the teachers had a party. We met at a hotel dining room and pigged out on yet another awesome Japanese food spread. Another one of my schools was having their party at the same hotel, and I went to visit them near the end of our dinner. By the time I got there, they were all very drunk, and I was well received. I was made to give my self-introduction and help lead the "Banzai" (closing cheer). Parties all end at a specific time and they are not at all shy about saying "Thank you for coming, the party is now over, please leave".
The teachers all have the day off today, to recover. Unfortunately, I am not a school employee. I had to come to my desk at the Board of Education and look busy all day. This is not so bad, but it will be worse when the schools all have longer vacations and I will have to spend them in the office. But, I do get my four weeks off each year and there is a three day weekend each month. Actually, I have had a week long seminar, two three day weekends, and four days of paid vacation, so I have really worked a lot less than my description of those nine days makes it sound. But, it is time to head home. I hope to add more eventually.
I shall begin with a recap of the events of the past six weeks.
August was spent mostly in the office. I played on the Internet and studied some Japanese. I felt sorry for my co-workers here at the Kagoshima City Board of Education. When I show up at 8:30 they are already hard at work. When I leave at noon for lunch, they are eating at their desks. When I return from lunch at a little before two, they are working again. When I head home at 4:15, they are still hours away from doing the same. And, when I am actually at my desk, they look a lot busier than I do. I cruise the Internet and they push papers.
My fellow office mates all have a locker in the corner of the office. Whenever there is an important meeting, they go over there and put on their ties. Twice a day the OL (office lady) brings us our tea and snack. Now, several weeks later, I miss the office days, but back in August they got to be a bit tedious.
Our office had a welcome party for the six new ALTs (assistant language teachers). We met at a nice restaurant, poured drinks for each other, said a few speeches and ate good food.
For a few days in August, we had a prefectural orientation. Mostly, it was just more boring speeches and some teacher training. My favorite lesson was taught by a Romanian man. He came into the room and spoke to us in Romanian for an hour. He tried to teach us some of the language and we all got to feel like our students feel like in class, when they have no idea what the teacher is saying. We had another Elementary School English Teachers seminar, but it was all in Japanese so I do not know what was said that day.
For four days at the end of August, we taught at an elementary school summer camp. We played some games with the kids and taught them a little bit of English. At that level, they can read the letters and say a few sentences. We taught them the days of the week and the months of the year.
On Monday, the 2nd of September, my real job began. I visit three Junior High Schools. The students range in age from 12 to 15 years old. They are divided into three grades, called first, second and third. Wada-chu JHS has about 1200 students and I spend two weeks per month there. Kamoike JHS has about 400 students and I spend about a week per month there. I also spend about one week per month with the 500 students of Taniyama-Kita JHS.
On the 2nd, I went to Kamoike JHS. I showed up, took off my street shoes, put them in a cubbyhole, and put on my school sandals. Then I was entertained in the Principal's office until it was time for a brief self-introduction. I went into the teacher's meeting and told them that "My name is America" and "I come from Avram". This Japanese stuff can be a bit difficult for me at times.
From there, it was off to the general assembly. School actually starts in April, but since August is a month off, they all have to be reacquainted to school life. The assembly was in the gym, and the students sat on the floor. Everyone left their shoes at the door. I made my first speech ever for 500 people, and I did not even have to wear shoes to do it. I introduced myself briefly in English, gave my extremely short Japanese introduction and listened to a student read a much longer welcome speech to me in Japanese. After a few more speeches, the school day was over and I went home.
For the next two days, I went back to Kamoike and introduced myself to the students. Every student in the schools must take English. So, between three schools, I have 59 classes of 40 students each to visit every month. Lesson planning is nice. I can use the same lesson for a month at a time. At Kamoike, I met my first class of surly third grades. As the oldest students in the school, they have had the most life sucked out of them and are pretty non-responsive and uninterested. My first class bombed, but luckily I had a free period next and I improved it greatly.
Here is what my self-introduction lesson has evolved into. I walk in to either applause or snores. Then they all stand up and say "Good Morning", "How are you?" and "I am fine, thank you." After they sit down, I tell them my name and write it on the board. They can call me Mr. Fox if they want, but we all seem to prefer Avram or Avram-sensei. Next, I hang up a big map and point out Japan, Florida, and many of the countries I have visited. At the end of my five minutes of talking they get to guess the number of countries I have visited (about 40) and my age (30).
Then I hand out a list of picture descriptions and we practice saying them and define the difficult words like 'camel', 'wedding party', and 'mummies'. Next comes the part they all love. I hand out about 25 pictures of me from my travels and they have to match the pictures to the descriptions. They get to laugh at me with long hair and wonder why I was wearing a turban. After we check the answers, if there is more time, they can either ask me more questions or we play Bingo using the words from my handout. And that is that, another 50 minute lesson finished.
In each class, the regular JTE (Japanese Teacher of English) is there to assist me by translating what I say or what the students say. They have also made many suggestions to me which has improved my presentation over the weeks.
For the most part, except for some of the third graders, the students are excited to see me. If properly prepared, I get a nice round of applause when I walk in and some even wave American flags. Also, I am a welcome break from the normal textbook work. Between classes there is a ten minute break. I head to the teacher's room and usually talk to which ever students wander in and feel like talking. In the halls lots of boys will exchange a few words with me. In the teacher's room it is usually girls. They like to tell me I have nice eyebrows, nice eyes, and a big nose (apparently a compliment here). They giggle a lot and I encourage them to keep learning English. It is a lot of fun to walk around school and say hello to every one. When I walk by a class in session, I feel sorry for the teacher, because all of the students lean out the windows to shout 'hello' at me.
The JTEs and other teachers I work with are generally pretty interesting. Many of them can say a few words in English and we can exchange a few pleasantries. Most of the JTEs speak English well enough to have a basic conversation. Some of the JTEs do not speak English very well at all.
The schools do not have any air-conditioning or heat. In early September, the classrooms were very hot. The teachers all raced back to the teacher's room between classes to enjoy the air-conditioning. Many students followed us back. There are always students coming and going from the room. They announce their name and class, state their business, and apologize. Some teacher gives them permission to enter, and then they just mill about for a while, before apologizing again and leaving. In the middle of September, the air-conditioners were turned off for the winter. It has not really cooled off too much, but the air-conditioners and the winter heaters are regulated by an official schedule and not the actual weather conditions.
The students day starts at around 8:15 or so. In their nice school uniforms, they must go to Homeroom for a half an hour. The students stay in the same classroom all day and the teachers move around. At 8:50, first period starts. The classes usually last 50 minutes, but are often shortened so that the students can do some other activity in the afternoon. After the class, there is a 10 to 15 minute break.
After fourth period it is lunch time. Six students from each class put on a hair net and a smock. In one school they also wear a face mask. They head down to the kitchen and bring back buckets of food and a case of milk. They bring the food back to the classroom and portion it out into bowls. They distribute the food to each desk in the classroom and the students all ignore it. When the food distributors of the day are done, and the smocks are put away, they sit down. The teacher leads the "Itadakemasu" (time to eat) and the boys shovel the food in and the girls pick at it. Lunch is enjoyed with classical music from the loud speaker. I have the option of eating in the teacher's room or with the students. I usually eat with the students. Lunch is usually rice, but sometimes bread, a vegetable curry or some-other kind of stew, a small bowl of some sort of fish, and sometimes, a frozen dessert.
After lunch, we shovel the scraps into a bucket, being careful to put the cardboard desert spoon into a separate pile and the desert spoon plastic wrapper into a separate pile and any other container in yet another place. The students bring all the lunch stuff back to the kitchen and then it is free time. Many students play or run around in the school yard. They all wear shorts and a t-shirt under their uniform, so changing takes place in the back of the classroom. Some play cards or visit the teacher갽s room.
After the next bell, everyone goes to their cleaning place and to the sound of fast-paced classical music, cleans. They sweep, mop, scrub and clean the whole school. Of course, they are normal kids and most don't take it too seriously, despite the teacher who helps out in each group. But, as one principal told me, "They are cheap labor". So, the schools never do get a proper, professional cleaning, but the dirt is pushed around real well each day.
After cleaning time, there are one or two more classes. Then the students go to their club activities, usually sports or some activity. Finally, after five, they get to go home. Again, I feel sorry for my co-workers. At the earliest, I show up for first period, but not if I have first period free. The teachers must supervise the after-school activities, but I leave, if I want to, as soon as my last class is over. I can just say that I am going to the office and I can head out. Often, I actually do go to the office, to check my email. As I get to know my schools better, I may stay for some of the activities like archery or aikido.
I have a desk at the BOE. At each school I also have a desk. Actually, I have more than one. Each grade has a teacher's room and they each have a desk for me, except for one. Usually the desk is in the worst place, but it is still mine. So, with three schools of three grades each and one office desk, minus the third grade teacher's room at Taniyama-Kita JHS, I have nine desks. I am also welcome to the snacks and drinks near each one of my desks.
I am amazed by how well everything works at each school. The students are great at re-arranging the classroom to make groups. Also, they do all of the cleaning and food service and moving around the school without any need of supervision and without complaint.
Each school has one troubled girl. She often has her hair dyed, which is against school rules. Her skirt is too short and her eyebrows too plucked. She also wears those 80's push down baggy socks, instead of normal sports socks. She does not go to class, but sits in the teacher's room or an empty room all day. The teachers tell me that she has problems at home.
I do not know what three boys did to make their teacher angry one day, but I did see the teacher whacking them on the heads. He did not hit too hard and they did not try to avoid it.
Another student got an unacceptable hair cut. It was very short on the sides and in the back, but had three inch long hair in the front. Every time I came back to the teacher's room, he was there looking defiant. Teachers took turns yelling at him. I do not know if he went to class or not that day, but it must have been a rough day for him. The next day his bangs were only two inches long, but he was still getting lectured.
Yesterday was Sports Day at the Junior High Schools. I chose to attend the event at Taniyama-Kita JHS. A lot of family members showed up to watch. The students were divided into two teams and ran all sorts of races against each other. They had been rehearsing the ceremonies and events all week. Also, they had spent the previous week putting up the tents, marking the track, and hanging signs. The students ran the whole thing with very little supervision. They did the announcing, timing, event co-ordination, set-up, clean-up and every thing else.
Every Japanese event seems to start with an opening ceremony, and this was no exception.
There was music and marching and flag raising and speeches. After a few events, there was a crowd participation event. At noon, there was a one hour break and everyone had a picnic lunch. After filling up on rice and small Japanese food things, we returned for some more races and activities. The school clubs did a demonstration and I think that the aikido club members look like samurai warriors. The archery club also has cool dresses and big bows. I participated in one event. Each team had to take turns kicking a football (really a rugby ball) across the field, around a cone, and back to the start. Footballs do not bounce very predictably, so I chose to juggle the ball like a soccer ball as I ran. The principal was very impressed and came up to congratulate me after my team one.
After the closing ceremony, the students dismantled the tents, put the chairs and tables away, put all of the equipment away and cleaned up the grounds. Then they went to homeroom class and had a brief meeting before going home. To celebrate another successful Sports Day, the teachers had a party. We met at a hotel dining room and pigged out on yet another awesome Japanese food spread. Another one of my schools was having their party at the same hotel, and I went to visit them near the end of our dinner. By the time I got there, they were all very drunk, and I was well received. I was made to give my self-introduction and help lead the "Banzai" (closing cheer). Parties all end at a specific time and they are not at all shy about saying "Thank you for coming, the party is now over, please leave".
The teachers all have the day off today, to recover. Unfortunately, I am not a school employee. I had to come to my desk at the Board of Education and look busy all day. This is not so bad, but it will be worse when the schools all have longer vacations and I will have to spend them in the office. But, I do get my four weeks off each year and there is a three day weekend each month. Actually, I have had a week long seminar, two three day weekends, and four days of paid vacation, so I have really worked a lot less than my description of those nine days makes it sound. But, it is time to head home. I hope to add more eventually.
Monday, August 12, 2002
My new home in Kagoshima, Japan
Well, well, well, what a difference a week can make. I am now in my new home town, Kagoshima, Japan.
After my update on the 2nd, I went down to Miami for a pre-departure orientation and reception. We spent the afternoon asking questions and getting information about Japan. The reception took place at the home of the Consul General of the Japanese Consulate in Miami. He had a nice home and about 100 guests for our going away party. I met his daughter, Reiko. She will be coming to Kagoshima to visit her boyfriend soon.
On the morning of Saturday the 3rd, I went down to Miami and flew to Minnesota. Even though I did not leave the airport in Minneapolis, I am counting this as the 48th state I have visited. After lunch, we boarded the plane Japan. Because we left in the morning and were flying northwest, the entire flight took place during daylight. We flew over western Canada and Alaska. I was able to see 50 mile long glaciers and mountains. I recognized many of the places from my tour leading days up there. We passed just south of Anchorage and had a great view of Mt. Denali/McKinley. It would have been nice to stop there for some hiking, but that was not the plan.
Around 5:00 pm, local time, on Sunday the 4th, we landed in Narita Airport near Tokyo, Japan. I am here as a member of the JET Programme (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program). The JET programme is very well organized. We were met by a bunch of people and taken to our five star hotel in downtown Tokyo.
Nothing was planned for that evening and I went to bed early. The next morning I woke up early and explored the city a little bit. The park next to the hotel had a large homeless population. The park's inhabitants had very neat and organized tarp covered shacks. They were up early sweeping the dirt and cooking breakfast. The one's without a shack slept on the pavement on a piece of cardboard. They left their shoes next to them, just like they would at a real home. I have seen many shanty towns in my travels, and this one was the cleanest and most orderly one I have ever seen.
That Monday, the 5th, was taken up with lots of speeches from important government ministers and such. I was in the second orientation. Our group had 1300 people. In all of Japan, there are well over 6000 JETs.
On the 6th, I went to some lectures on teaching in the Junior High Schools. After lunch, I went to a few lectures on adjusting to life in Japan. The US embassy had a raffle and I was one of the 96 lucky winners. I was invited to the Deputy Charge d'mission (DCM) house for a small party. He has a nice home and good food. Some former JETs and current foreign service employees were there to talk to and two of them had lived in Kagoshima. It was nice to talk to them. The DCM seemed very excited for all of us and wished us luck, before making a small recruitment speech for the US foreign service.
On Wednesday, the 7th, I flew to Kagoshima in far southern Japan. With Chris and Dana, my two fellow group B Kagoshima city Jets, I visited the office at the Board of Education. I met some bosses and co-workers and then went to my new home in the Satsuki Mansion.
Mansion is the Japanese word for apartment building. I have a great place. It is at least four times bigger than the van I have lived out of for much of the previous seven years. I measured the floor space. I have nearly 200 square feet all to myself. You walk in the front door into a three foot by three foot entrance way. There you take off your shoes and store them in a small closet before stepping up into the apartment proper. Now, on the right is a closet with the washing machine. Straight ahead a few steps is the kitchen/hallway. On the left side of the hall is my two burner gas stove, sink, cupboards and a really, really tiny refrigerator. On the right is my 16 square foot bathroom. The tub is well under four feet long. The shoulder end is almost two feet wide, but the feet end is only about a foot wide.
After passing through the six foot long hallway, you enter the ten foot by ten foot living space. The walls were recently painted white, so it looks very clean and shiny. I have tatami (reed mats) on the floor. In the room I have a small table and a comfortable chair. That is it. Nothing else. So, when I put the table in the corner and the chair near the rear sliding glass door, the place looks pretty empty. It is great. There are lots of closets, so all of my stuff is put away out of sight. At night, I take my futon out of the closet and set it down on the ground to sleep on.
I have a 36 square foot balcony in the back. I am on the fifth floor, so I have a decent view of lots of buildings. If I stand in the right place, I can catch a glimpse of the bay. I am hoping to get a few plants to decorate the balcony with.
Across the bay is Sakurajima volcano. There is a building blocking my view, but I can still see the sides and top of the volcano. It is usually covered in clouds, but quite often smoke comes out of it. I have only seen the clouds so far, but I will keep looking.
I think that is about it for my place. It is certainly large enough for me, but it is in a city center. It is a five minute walk to the bay and also a five minute walk to a small park with a hill to climb and lots of stray cats.
So, after being shown my home last Wednesday, I was done with work for the day. On Thursday I went to work and applied for my Alien Registration Card. I also received my Inkan. The Inkan is a stamp with my personal Japanese symbol on it. Here, they do not sign documents, they stamp them. So, without a stamp, I would be unable to sign contracts. On Friday I went to the bank and opened up an account. In the afternoons I went back the office and tried to look busy. My desk is in a block of eight, butting up against my neighbors and facing others on the other side of the desk. It is very strange for me to wear nice clothes and go to the office each day. When I get there, I follow the local custom and shout out "good morning" when I get to the door. This is accompanied by a bow. In the afternoon, when I go home, I bow again and shout out "Excuse me for leaving before you".
On Saturday we had a small city orientation. Yesterday I took the 15 minute ferry over to the Sakurajima Volcano. I walked around for about nine hours and found some nice spots. School does not actually start for a few more weeks, so I will be spending my days at the office on the computer or studying Japanese.
I do not have to be at the office until 8:30 in the morning, so I have a few hours each day to explore the city before the sun gets too hot. I wake up at 5:30 and either run or walk around town and see a new bit each day. After work I have time for looking around some more. I hope to find a soccer team and some other afternoon activities soon.
So, all in all, I am keeping busy, enjoying the local food and attempting to make the adjustment to living in a city. I am now very motivated to learn Japanese, so that I can use the buses and trains to explore more of the countryside.
I live downtown, near the big shopping area. There are lots of restaurants to try, so I am happy about that. The cool kids hang out in the shopping area and they all have dyed hair. It is a reddish blond and is very noticeable in this land of black hair. The really cool guys get the hair teased so that they look a bit like Einstein in his famous pictures.
After my update on the 2nd, I went down to Miami for a pre-departure orientation and reception. We spent the afternoon asking questions and getting information about Japan. The reception took place at the home of the Consul General of the Japanese Consulate in Miami. He had a nice home and about 100 guests for our going away party. I met his daughter, Reiko. She will be coming to Kagoshima to visit her boyfriend soon.
On the morning of Saturday the 3rd, I went down to Miami and flew to Minnesota. Even though I did not leave the airport in Minneapolis, I am counting this as the 48th state I have visited. After lunch, we boarded the plane Japan. Because we left in the morning and were flying northwest, the entire flight took place during daylight. We flew over western Canada and Alaska. I was able to see 50 mile long glaciers and mountains. I recognized many of the places from my tour leading days up there. We passed just south of Anchorage and had a great view of Mt. Denali/McKinley. It would have been nice to stop there for some hiking, but that was not the plan.
Around 5:00 pm, local time, on Sunday the 4th, we landed in Narita Airport near Tokyo, Japan. I am here as a member of the JET Programme (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program). The JET programme is very well organized. We were met by a bunch of people and taken to our five star hotel in downtown Tokyo.
Nothing was planned for that evening and I went to bed early. The next morning I woke up early and explored the city a little bit. The park next to the hotel had a large homeless population. The park's inhabitants had very neat and organized tarp covered shacks. They were up early sweeping the dirt and cooking breakfast. The one's without a shack slept on the pavement on a piece of cardboard. They left their shoes next to them, just like they would at a real home. I have seen many shanty towns in my travels, and this one was the cleanest and most orderly one I have ever seen.
That Monday, the 5th, was taken up with lots of speeches from important government ministers and such. I was in the second orientation. Our group had 1300 people. In all of Japan, there are well over 6000 JETs.
On the 6th, I went to some lectures on teaching in the Junior High Schools. After lunch, I went to a few lectures on adjusting to life in Japan. The US embassy had a raffle and I was one of the 96 lucky winners. I was invited to the Deputy Charge d'mission (DCM) house for a small party. He has a nice home and good food. Some former JETs and current foreign service employees were there to talk to and two of them had lived in Kagoshima. It was nice to talk to them. The DCM seemed very excited for all of us and wished us luck, before making a small recruitment speech for the US foreign service.
On Wednesday, the 7th, I flew to Kagoshima in far southern Japan. With Chris and Dana, my two fellow group B Kagoshima city Jets, I visited the office at the Board of Education. I met some bosses and co-workers and then went to my new home in the Satsuki Mansion.
Mansion is the Japanese word for apartment building. I have a great place. It is at least four times bigger than the van I have lived out of for much of the previous seven years. I measured the floor space. I have nearly 200 square feet all to myself. You walk in the front door into a three foot by three foot entrance way. There you take off your shoes and store them in a small closet before stepping up into the apartment proper. Now, on the right is a closet with the washing machine. Straight ahead a few steps is the kitchen/hallway. On the left side of the hall is my two burner gas stove, sink, cupboards and a really, really tiny refrigerator. On the right is my 16 square foot bathroom. The tub is well under four feet long. The shoulder end is almost two feet wide, but the feet end is only about a foot wide.
After passing through the six foot long hallway, you enter the ten foot by ten foot living space. The walls were recently painted white, so it looks very clean and shiny. I have tatami (reed mats) on the floor. In the room I have a small table and a comfortable chair. That is it. Nothing else. So, when I put the table in the corner and the chair near the rear sliding glass door, the place looks pretty empty. It is great. There are lots of closets, so all of my stuff is put away out of sight. At night, I take my futon out of the closet and set it down on the ground to sleep on.
I have a 36 square foot balcony in the back. I am on the fifth floor, so I have a decent view of lots of buildings. If I stand in the right place, I can catch a glimpse of the bay. I am hoping to get a few plants to decorate the balcony with.
Across the bay is Sakurajima volcano. There is a building blocking my view, but I can still see the sides and top of the volcano. It is usually covered in clouds, but quite often smoke comes out of it. I have only seen the clouds so far, but I will keep looking.
I think that is about it for my place. It is certainly large enough for me, but it is in a city center. It is a five minute walk to the bay and also a five minute walk to a small park with a hill to climb and lots of stray cats.
So, after being shown my home last Wednesday, I was done with work for the day. On Thursday I went to work and applied for my Alien Registration Card. I also received my Inkan. The Inkan is a stamp with my personal Japanese symbol on it. Here, they do not sign documents, they stamp them. So, without a stamp, I would be unable to sign contracts. On Friday I went to the bank and opened up an account. In the afternoons I went back the office and tried to look busy. My desk is in a block of eight, butting up against my neighbors and facing others on the other side of the desk. It is very strange for me to wear nice clothes and go to the office each day. When I get there, I follow the local custom and shout out "good morning" when I get to the door. This is accompanied by a bow. In the afternoon, when I go home, I bow again and shout out "Excuse me for leaving before you".
On Saturday we had a small city orientation. Yesterday I took the 15 minute ferry over to the Sakurajima Volcano. I walked around for about nine hours and found some nice spots. School does not actually start for a few more weeks, so I will be spending my days at the office on the computer or studying Japanese.
I do not have to be at the office until 8:30 in the morning, so I have a few hours each day to explore the city before the sun gets too hot. I wake up at 5:30 and either run or walk around town and see a new bit each day. After work I have time for looking around some more. I hope to find a soccer team and some other afternoon activities soon.
So, all in all, I am keeping busy, enjoying the local food and attempting to make the adjustment to living in a city. I am now very motivated to learn Japanese, so that I can use the buses and trains to explore more of the countryside.
I live downtown, near the big shopping area. There are lots of restaurants to try, so I am happy about that. The cool kids hang out in the shopping area and they all have dyed hair. It is a reddish blond and is very noticeable in this land of black hair. The really cool guys get the hair teased so that they look a bit like Einstein in his famous pictures.
Friday, August 2, 2002
Peru, Bolivia, Florida, US Northeast and three weeks of hiking in Colorado
Well, picking up where I left off in Arequipa on my final GAP trip in South America, we went to the Colca canyon, soaked in the hot springs and saw some condors. Then we flew up to Cuzco and had our free day there. Some of my passengers wanted to go rafting, but only on a really mellow section. We went, and to make it more exciting for myself, I jumped into the river and swam through most of the rapids, when the guide told me it was safe to do so. At the end of the trip, while we were waiting for the bus, I was able to hop into the kayak and fool around for a little while. I was pleased to note that on my very first attempt at an eskimo roll in several years, I pulled it off flawlessly. I practiced the rolls a few times and then played in a rapid for a bit.
Next, we took our Sacred Valley tour and then headed out onto the Inca Trail. We had excellent weather and the hiking was fun. On the second day, we got to the 4200 meter pass at 10:30 am. Everyone seemed to be doing well, so I left the group and hiked up and around a mountain. I saw the lakes I was hoping to see and then came to a pass. It was 3:30 pm. I knew that camp was down the valley, but that it would be slow going due to the lack of a trail. I decided to attempt my new found alternative route. By 5:00 I realized that I would not be anywhere near camp before dark. I climbed up a mountainside and when the sun set at 5:30, I was able to see the camp far below me. I signalled to them with my flashlight. I did not want them to worry about me when I did not show up before dark.
I started down the mountainside. Even though the moon was bright enough to see by, I kept my light on so that my passengers could follow my progress. Several of the porters grabbed flashlights and came up to meet me. I was afraid that my passengers would be worried, but, as I found out later, they just lined their chairs up outside, drank tea, ate popcorn and watched the bouncing lights on the mountainside. It was better than watching television, they tell me. Eventually, I met up with my rescue party of porters. Although, I am not sure who rescued who. I was the one who had extra food, water, and flashlights to offer them.
The group of us headed towards camp. The porters made me laugh because, now that I was on the easiest section of the whole evening, they were there to bend branches out of the way and to tell me to be careful. We got to camp at 8:00pm and the cook was nice enough to have kept my dinner for me. All in all, it was an excellent ten hour little side hike.
After visiting Machu Picchu and soaking in the nearby hot springs, we went back to Cuzco for a free day. Then, it was off to Puno and a visit to the floating reed islands and to the solid islands of Amantani and Taquile. I had another great swim in the ever cold Lake Titicaca. After a border crossing and some slight delays, we were in La Paz. We went to the Andean music and dinner show (Pena) and had our goodbye party. A couple of my passengers were university professors. One of them, a British professor of American Literature, gave me the most incredible speech I have ever heard. He summed up the trip and praised me in an amazingly eloquent way. I was very flattered.
After six movies, four meals, and 24 hours on a bus, I was back in Lima. I visited with Luis and Karem before flying back to the US on the 4th of June.
I spent the rest of June visiting family in Florida, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. I enjoyed the drive north and south. The World Cup of Soccer took place then and I had to wake up at 2:30 in the morning quite often to watch tv.
On the 3rd of July, I flew out to Denver. Susie picked me up and we went to a party. We spent the rest of the week visiting and watching some good fireworks. On the 7th, I went out to Telluride and had a good visit with my family in that area. Next, it was a bit further south to Cortez to visit John and Cathy and their family.
John, Cathy and I went on a two night backpacking trip to the West Fork/Rainbow Hot Springs. We had a nice time soaking. After we hiked out, Cathy dropped us me and John off at another trailhead in the Weimenuche Wilderness Area and we hiked for a few more days. We saw lots of elk and finished up the trip back at the hot-springs.
After eight days of backpacking and soaking, we went back to John's house and there I met my biggest challenge of the week. I watched ten hours straight of Star Trek: Enterprise episodes. That was a pleasure, but the sitting still all day part was not easy.
The next day, I took a bus back to Denver. I like taking the bus in the US. It gives me a chance to practice speaking Spanish. Susie and I went on a quick overnight backpacking trip in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. As soon as we crossed over the one big pass on the trip, the rain and lightening started. It was a bit cold and wet, but I enjoyed it immensely.
From Denver, I went down to Colorado Springs to visit Karla and Daniel. Karla and I went over to the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area for a few days of backpacking. We saw three foxes, some elk and a big deer. Also, we were woken up throughout the night by some sort of rodent sniffing around the tent. To finish off this trip, we went to the Cottonwood Hot Springs. These hot springs would make my list of top three commercial hot springs in Colorado.
We spent last weekend in Colorado Springs and got in my final hike in the U.S. for a while.
Now, I am back in Florida and will be leaving for Japan tomorrow.
Next, we took our Sacred Valley tour and then headed out onto the Inca Trail. We had excellent weather and the hiking was fun. On the second day, we got to the 4200 meter pass at 10:30 am. Everyone seemed to be doing well, so I left the group and hiked up and around a mountain. I saw the lakes I was hoping to see and then came to a pass. It was 3:30 pm. I knew that camp was down the valley, but that it would be slow going due to the lack of a trail. I decided to attempt my new found alternative route. By 5:00 I realized that I would not be anywhere near camp before dark. I climbed up a mountainside and when the sun set at 5:30, I was able to see the camp far below me. I signalled to them with my flashlight. I did not want them to worry about me when I did not show up before dark.
I started down the mountainside. Even though the moon was bright enough to see by, I kept my light on so that my passengers could follow my progress. Several of the porters grabbed flashlights and came up to meet me. I was afraid that my passengers would be worried, but, as I found out later, they just lined their chairs up outside, drank tea, ate popcorn and watched the bouncing lights on the mountainside. It was better than watching television, they tell me. Eventually, I met up with my rescue party of porters. Although, I am not sure who rescued who. I was the one who had extra food, water, and flashlights to offer them.
The group of us headed towards camp. The porters made me laugh because, now that I was on the easiest section of the whole evening, they were there to bend branches out of the way and to tell me to be careful. We got to camp at 8:00pm and the cook was nice enough to have kept my dinner for me. All in all, it was an excellent ten hour little side hike.
After visiting Machu Picchu and soaking in the nearby hot springs, we went back to Cuzco for a free day. Then, it was off to Puno and a visit to the floating reed islands and to the solid islands of Amantani and Taquile. I had another great swim in the ever cold Lake Titicaca. After a border crossing and some slight delays, we were in La Paz. We went to the Andean music and dinner show (Pena) and had our goodbye party. A couple of my passengers were university professors. One of them, a British professor of American Literature, gave me the most incredible speech I have ever heard. He summed up the trip and praised me in an amazingly eloquent way. I was very flattered.
After six movies, four meals, and 24 hours on a bus, I was back in Lima. I visited with Luis and Karem before flying back to the US on the 4th of June.
I spent the rest of June visiting family in Florida, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts. I enjoyed the drive north and south. The World Cup of Soccer took place then and I had to wake up at 2:30 in the morning quite often to watch tv.
On the 3rd of July, I flew out to Denver. Susie picked me up and we went to a party. We spent the rest of the week visiting and watching some good fireworks. On the 7th, I went out to Telluride and had a good visit with my family in that area. Next, it was a bit further south to Cortez to visit John and Cathy and their family.
John, Cathy and I went on a two night backpacking trip to the West Fork/Rainbow Hot Springs. We had a nice time soaking. After we hiked out, Cathy dropped us me and John off at another trailhead in the Weimenuche Wilderness Area and we hiked for a few more days. We saw lots of elk and finished up the trip back at the hot-springs.
After eight days of backpacking and soaking, we went back to John's house and there I met my biggest challenge of the week. I watched ten hours straight of Star Trek: Enterprise episodes. That was a pleasure, but the sitting still all day part was not easy.
The next day, I took a bus back to Denver. I like taking the bus in the US. It gives me a chance to practice speaking Spanish. Susie and I went on a quick overnight backpacking trip in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area. As soon as we crossed over the one big pass on the trip, the rain and lightening started. It was a bit cold and wet, but I enjoyed it immensely.
From Denver, I went down to Colorado Springs to visit Karla and Daniel. Karla and I went over to the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area for a few days of backpacking. We saw three foxes, some elk and a big deer. Also, we were woken up throughout the night by some sort of rodent sniffing around the tent. To finish off this trip, we went to the Cottonwood Hot Springs. These hot springs would make my list of top three commercial hot springs in Colorado.
We spent last weekend in Colorado Springs and got in my final hike in the U.S. for a while.
Now, I am back in Florida and will be leaving for Japan tomorrow.
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Tour leading in Peru and Bolivia
Before I begin the latest update, I would like to share a few random thoughts and observations from the past few months.
On my second trip this year, I had a number of passengers who had visited Vietnam recently. In my previous experience, whenever anyone said something along the lines of "Back when I was in Vietnam..." it meant that they were a veteran and fought over there. It was strange to hear people beginning stories with those words and continuing on to mention tourism activities. But, it is good to hear pleasurable tales of this Southeast Asian country.
My favorite word in Spanish is 'Hablaba'. It means something along the lines of 'I used to talk'. How can you not like a language with a word like 'Hablaba'?
So far, after a few solo lessons in Japanese, my favorite Japanese word is 'Tokidoki'. It means 'sometimes'.
I have always known that Japanese would be hard to learn, but now I have a slightly better appreciation of just how difficult it will be. In an English language newspaper, there are about 50 symbols you need to know to read it. In Japanese, the official number for a newspaper is 1946, spread out over three different alphabets and one picture writing system. The picture writing system is similar to the Chinese writing and contains over 10,000 distinct pictures. A high school graduate is expected to be able to read and write over 3,000 of them.
As I continue to visit Inca sites, I am more and more impressed with their water control systems. They were masters of water. They built terraces with intricate subterranean aqueducts on mountain sides to control erosion and grow crops. In the religious areas, they built long series of ritual baths and were able to control the speed that the water flowed at. In one place, Ollantaytambo, they annually diverted a river. They brought big stones down the mountain side. Then they closed off one branch of the huge Urubamba river and put the stones on an island. Then they closed the other side of the river and brought the stones up the opposite side of the valley. Pretty impressive.
After I was mugged in Lima in February I became a little nervous. I became reluctant to walk alone in the poor areas on the edges of towns. I also stopped carrying more than US$100 on me when I walked around town. I did not like the feeling of having to take precautions, like a taxi, when I took out several hundred dollars from the bank and had to go back to the hotel to pay them. Luckily, after a few months, this fear is fading back to its normal level and I can comfortably walk around town with US$500 in my pocket again without being nervous. Life is so much more fun when you are not worried.
On the 23nd of March, I left Lima with seven new passengers. We visited Pisco and went to the Ballestas Islands to see the sea lions and penguins and birds. Then we went to the oasis of Huacachina for some sand boarding on the way to Nazca. From there it was on to Arequipa, the Colca Canyon, and Cuzco. Up until this point the trip was fraught with delays.
On the first day of travel, we arrived to Pisco early and had to wait on the side of the road for 15 minutes until our ride to town got there. The next day, I hired a private bus to take us to Nasca. When the mini-van arrived, the front left tire had a bit of an odd looking bulge in it. We spent twenty minutes looking for some air to put in the tire, never found any, gave up and started the drive south through the desert. After lunch in the oasis, we continued south. In the hills near the town of Rio Grande, a passing bus pointed out to us the fact that the front right tire was flat.
We pulled over and tried to get the spare. The spare tire was in a cage underneath the back of the van. The cage was stuck solid and we could not open it at first. Eventually, with one of my passengers leatherman tool we got the cage open and took out the spare. Twenty minutes later the new tire was on, and it was a bit flat. We discovered another spare tire under the van in the cage, but it was stuck. After twenty minutes of fiddling with it, we got it out. It looked like a tire from a golf cart. We put it on the van and headed off. The tire was too small and rubbed the rim. It did not turn, it just made an awful sound. At this point our driver took the flat spare and hitched into the nearby town to fill it with air.
When he got back, we put on the spare with air and headed off. The tire rubbed something and made and awful sound. We slowly drove to the next town. After an hour, which I spent talking with the local kids, the driver had the original tire fixed and we were on our way. We arrived in Nazca about three hours late and nobody was impressed.
From Nazca we waited for a very late night bus to Arequipa. When we finally left it was nearly one in the morning. About sunrise, the engine broke and we sat on the side of the road for a while. Then we drove for a few hours before parking on the side of the road for another hour. Eventually, we continued on, at a snail's pace. We arrived in Arequipa about five hours late.
The next day we were promised that we would not have any vehicle problems. We left Arequipa on the way to the Colca Canyon. At the edge of town a taxi cut us off and two policemen hopped out. They told us to drive back to their checkpoint before hopping in a bus going the other direction. When we got back to the place where they stand on the side of the road and flag down cars we found out that they had waved at us to stop, but our driver had not seen them. After thirty minutes and a small bribe we were on our way again.
A few days later we flew to Cuzco and went rafting. The difficult class V section was finally open and we opted for that. We made it through all of the rapids. At the last one we tried to park the raft in the wave and surf. Something did not work as planned, the raft flipped and we all had a nice short swim.
The next day we toured the Sacred Valley and spent the night in Ollantaytambo. From there we started the Inca Trail. At the end of the first day of hiking, I had time for a very enjoyable extra hike up a side valley with some of my passengers. We saw a great children's game between villages. Three little boys were walking in a line. The one in the back would try to sneak up and touch the one in front of him. The one in front would turn around very quickly and try to spit on the one behind. They looked like they were enjoying their sport greatly, but none of us chose to join in.
On the second day of the hike there was a lot of rain. While everyone else ate lunch and napped, I followed a waterfall up to a river and further on to a big lake. I had an excellent four hour side hike that afternoon. Two days later we made it to Machu Picchu. While they did the tour, I strolled up the nearby Machu Picchu mountain.
Back in Cuzco we had a free day before busing over to Puno. The bus to Puno left almost an hour late, because they had to put on new tires. After a few more delays we arrived in Juliaca for our normal 15 minute stop. After one minute, they told us all to get back on the bus and we left.
We drove around the bus station and entered it from the back side. There was a band, a large crowd, men in suits, police and TV reporters waiting for us there. I first visited the Juliaca bus station in 1999 and it looks exactly the same now as it did then. It still looks unfinished. But, they had decided that this day was the official grand-opening and we were the first bus to arrive on this celebratory day. We got off the bus, got our pictures taken and answered a few questions put to us by the reporters. Then we got back onto the bus. The bus started pulling out. The police whistled at us to stop and indicated that we were going out the in gate. The bus driver had to exit the proper gate, drive around the bus station again and out to the highway. We were on our way again.
From Puno we visited the floating reed islands of Uros and then spent the night on Amantani. I had a nice exploratory hike of the island. The next day, after a visit to Taquile Island, we went back to Puno and then on to Bolivia. At the border I got to argue with the guard about my Singaporian passengers visa and passport. Eventually, for only about fifty dollars, she was allowed in and we were on our way to La Paz.
In La Paz, Bolivia, we said goodbye and I had a great couple of hikes in the nearby mountains.
On the 12th of April, I met my new group and we started the same trip I had just finished, but going in the opposite direction. I also met Benjamin, my trainee. He joined us on the trip and besides leading the tour, I trained him on how to be a GAP tour leader.
We crossed into Peru and went to Puno. We visited the islands and then went back to Puno. We were supposed to take a day bus to Cuzco, but a strike had closed the road. We explored Puno for the day and took a night bus instead. An hour into the ride, in Juliaca, we saw burning tires and rocks in the road. A man ran down the aisle of the bus yelling at us to turn off the TV and lights and to shut the curtains on the windows. Out the front window, I could see a bunch of men standing around in the intersection while some police watched them. After an hour or so, they all left and we continued on to Cuzco.
We had a free day in Cuzco, did the Sacred Valley tour and started the Inca Trail. That afternoon I had time to go further up the valley I first explored in March. The second day I explored another pass and nearby valley. The third day I had time to check out an extra little peak in the area. On the fourth day, while they toured the Machu Picchu ruins, I hiked an hour down to the river and an hour up the Putu Kussey mountain on the other side. This was a very scary climb. Some sections of the trail were tall and vertical cliffs. There were wet and slippery wooden ladders bolted to the wall. The climb up was a bit challenging, but rewarding.
The day after the Inca Trail, four of us went rafting. We flipped at the beginning of the biggest set of rapids. I fell out and knocked one of my passengers into the water with me. He lost both of his shoes and bruised his shoulder pretty bad before being quickly rescued. Then I floated near Ben for a while. He lost his shoe and was eventually rescued by another raft. Before the raft could save me, I went under the water and we lost sight of each other. It was very dark and peaceful under the water while I was waiting to pop back up and struggle for a quick breath before being sucked back under.
Then I was being washed downstream next to another one of my passengers. He grabbed onto the back of the rescue kayak, washed around a big rock and was deposited on the shore by the kayaker, minus one shoe and with a bruised thigh and scraped toes. Before the big rock, which I really wanted to avoid, I managed to swim to an eddy and pulled myself ashore with both shoes and only a scraped shin.
Eventually, the kayak came to rescue us. This involved us holding on while he pulled us into the rapids. A raft quickly caught up to us, and without too much more punishment, we were pulled in. Him first, naturally. I was still enjoying the swim.
Ben and I did manage to fall in one more time near the end, but we were quickly rescued and it was uneventful.
We flew from Cuzco to Arequipa and enjoyed a free day there. Then we went on to the Colca Canyon. It is a great place, but we are always rushed there with only two days. I rearranged the trip and we spent three days up there. On our full day in the Canyon, we hiked down to the river. We had lunch and did a bit of swimming before hiking back to the top.
After returning to Arequipa, we took the regularly scheduled night bus to Nasca, flew over the lines and toured the area and went on up to the oasis for some sandboarding. Two days later we were in Lima and had our farewell dinner.
I spent a few free days with my friends Luis and Karem. Then I took a bus to the mountains for a quick get away before my final trip with GAP. Four hours from Lima, at sea level, I was crossing over a pass in the Andes at 4818 meters (somewhere around 15,000 feet). I continued on the bus past Junin and got off in Carhaumayo. The next day I did a nice 12 or so mile walk up the valley and over the small pass at the end. I took a bus to Morococha, the nearest small town to the 4818 meter pass called Ticlio. Morococha has no hotels, but I met a woman, whose son took me to see his uncle who directed us to another uncle's house. I rented a most disgusting and dirty room for the night in this high altitude mining town. The bathroom was the alley behind the house. I ate in a small cafeteria and helped three young students with their English.
The next day, I took a bus up to the pass and had a pleasant five hour hike up in the mountains. I saw a bit of snow and also saw five vicunas. My previous day's hike was fun, but not challenging. This day, at over 5,000 meters, I was having fun. At one point in my explorations, I had to make my way down a cliff. Looking back at it, I could not figure out how I had done it.
That afternoon I went back to Lima and spent a day or two there before my current trip started.
On the 10th of May, I left Lima with my eight new passengers and my new trainee, Stephane. We visited Pisco and the oasis before getting to Nazca. After a long delay due to fog, they did their flights over the lines and we left for Arequipa. Normally we take a night bus, but we had to leave earlier than normal to avoid the nationwide strike on the 14th of May.
We arrived in Arequipa late last night. Today is a free day for everyone. The strike is pretty interesting. People are protesting the government in general and privatization in particular. There are broken bottles and rocks in the streets and lots of people marching with signs and chants. The riot police are well positioned, but all has been quiet so far.
On my second trip this year, I had a number of passengers who had visited Vietnam recently. In my previous experience, whenever anyone said something along the lines of "Back when I was in Vietnam..." it meant that they were a veteran and fought over there. It was strange to hear people beginning stories with those words and continuing on to mention tourism activities. But, it is good to hear pleasurable tales of this Southeast Asian country.
My favorite word in Spanish is 'Hablaba'. It means something along the lines of 'I used to talk'. How can you not like a language with a word like 'Hablaba'?
So far, after a few solo lessons in Japanese, my favorite Japanese word is 'Tokidoki'. It means 'sometimes'.
I have always known that Japanese would be hard to learn, but now I have a slightly better appreciation of just how difficult it will be. In an English language newspaper, there are about 50 symbols you need to know to read it. In Japanese, the official number for a newspaper is 1946, spread out over three different alphabets and one picture writing system. The picture writing system is similar to the Chinese writing and contains over 10,000 distinct pictures. A high school graduate is expected to be able to read and write over 3,000 of them.
As I continue to visit Inca sites, I am more and more impressed with their water control systems. They were masters of water. They built terraces with intricate subterranean aqueducts on mountain sides to control erosion and grow crops. In the religious areas, they built long series of ritual baths and were able to control the speed that the water flowed at. In one place, Ollantaytambo, they annually diverted a river. They brought big stones down the mountain side. Then they closed off one branch of the huge Urubamba river and put the stones on an island. Then they closed the other side of the river and brought the stones up the opposite side of the valley. Pretty impressive.
After I was mugged in Lima in February I became a little nervous. I became reluctant to walk alone in the poor areas on the edges of towns. I also stopped carrying more than US$100 on me when I walked around town. I did not like the feeling of having to take precautions, like a taxi, when I took out several hundred dollars from the bank and had to go back to the hotel to pay them. Luckily, after a few months, this fear is fading back to its normal level and I can comfortably walk around town with US$500 in my pocket again without being nervous. Life is so much more fun when you are not worried.
On the 23nd of March, I left Lima with seven new passengers. We visited Pisco and went to the Ballestas Islands to see the sea lions and penguins and birds. Then we went to the oasis of Huacachina for some sand boarding on the way to Nazca. From there it was on to Arequipa, the Colca Canyon, and Cuzco. Up until this point the trip was fraught with delays.
On the first day of travel, we arrived to Pisco early and had to wait on the side of the road for 15 minutes until our ride to town got there. The next day, I hired a private bus to take us to Nasca. When the mini-van arrived, the front left tire had a bit of an odd looking bulge in it. We spent twenty minutes looking for some air to put in the tire, never found any, gave up and started the drive south through the desert. After lunch in the oasis, we continued south. In the hills near the town of Rio Grande, a passing bus pointed out to us the fact that the front right tire was flat.
We pulled over and tried to get the spare. The spare tire was in a cage underneath the back of the van. The cage was stuck solid and we could not open it at first. Eventually, with one of my passengers leatherman tool we got the cage open and took out the spare. Twenty minutes later the new tire was on, and it was a bit flat. We discovered another spare tire under the van in the cage, but it was stuck. After twenty minutes of fiddling with it, we got it out. It looked like a tire from a golf cart. We put it on the van and headed off. The tire was too small and rubbed the rim. It did not turn, it just made an awful sound. At this point our driver took the flat spare and hitched into the nearby town to fill it with air.
When he got back, we put on the spare with air and headed off. The tire rubbed something and made and awful sound. We slowly drove to the next town. After an hour, which I spent talking with the local kids, the driver had the original tire fixed and we were on our way. We arrived in Nazca about three hours late and nobody was impressed.
From Nazca we waited for a very late night bus to Arequipa. When we finally left it was nearly one in the morning. About sunrise, the engine broke and we sat on the side of the road for a while. Then we drove for a few hours before parking on the side of the road for another hour. Eventually, we continued on, at a snail's pace. We arrived in Arequipa about five hours late.
The next day we were promised that we would not have any vehicle problems. We left Arequipa on the way to the Colca Canyon. At the edge of town a taxi cut us off and two policemen hopped out. They told us to drive back to their checkpoint before hopping in a bus going the other direction. When we got back to the place where they stand on the side of the road and flag down cars we found out that they had waved at us to stop, but our driver had not seen them. After thirty minutes and a small bribe we were on our way again.
A few days later we flew to Cuzco and went rafting. The difficult class V section was finally open and we opted for that. We made it through all of the rapids. At the last one we tried to park the raft in the wave and surf. Something did not work as planned, the raft flipped and we all had a nice short swim.
The next day we toured the Sacred Valley and spent the night in Ollantaytambo. From there we started the Inca Trail. At the end of the first day of hiking, I had time for a very enjoyable extra hike up a side valley with some of my passengers. We saw a great children's game between villages. Three little boys were walking in a line. The one in the back would try to sneak up and touch the one in front of him. The one in front would turn around very quickly and try to spit on the one behind. They looked like they were enjoying their sport greatly, but none of us chose to join in.
On the second day of the hike there was a lot of rain. While everyone else ate lunch and napped, I followed a waterfall up to a river and further on to a big lake. I had an excellent four hour side hike that afternoon. Two days later we made it to Machu Picchu. While they did the tour, I strolled up the nearby Machu Picchu mountain.
Back in Cuzco we had a free day before busing over to Puno. The bus to Puno left almost an hour late, because they had to put on new tires. After a few more delays we arrived in Juliaca for our normal 15 minute stop. After one minute, they told us all to get back on the bus and we left.
We drove around the bus station and entered it from the back side. There was a band, a large crowd, men in suits, police and TV reporters waiting for us there. I first visited the Juliaca bus station in 1999 and it looks exactly the same now as it did then. It still looks unfinished. But, they had decided that this day was the official grand-opening and we were the first bus to arrive on this celebratory day. We got off the bus, got our pictures taken and answered a few questions put to us by the reporters. Then we got back onto the bus. The bus started pulling out. The police whistled at us to stop and indicated that we were going out the in gate. The bus driver had to exit the proper gate, drive around the bus station again and out to the highway. We were on our way again.
From Puno we visited the floating reed islands of Uros and then spent the night on Amantani. I had a nice exploratory hike of the island. The next day, after a visit to Taquile Island, we went back to Puno and then on to Bolivia. At the border I got to argue with the guard about my Singaporian passengers visa and passport. Eventually, for only about fifty dollars, she was allowed in and we were on our way to La Paz.
In La Paz, Bolivia, we said goodbye and I had a great couple of hikes in the nearby mountains.
On the 12th of April, I met my new group and we started the same trip I had just finished, but going in the opposite direction. I also met Benjamin, my trainee. He joined us on the trip and besides leading the tour, I trained him on how to be a GAP tour leader.
We crossed into Peru and went to Puno. We visited the islands and then went back to Puno. We were supposed to take a day bus to Cuzco, but a strike had closed the road. We explored Puno for the day and took a night bus instead. An hour into the ride, in Juliaca, we saw burning tires and rocks in the road. A man ran down the aisle of the bus yelling at us to turn off the TV and lights and to shut the curtains on the windows. Out the front window, I could see a bunch of men standing around in the intersection while some police watched them. After an hour or so, they all left and we continued on to Cuzco.
We had a free day in Cuzco, did the Sacred Valley tour and started the Inca Trail. That afternoon I had time to go further up the valley I first explored in March. The second day I explored another pass and nearby valley. The third day I had time to check out an extra little peak in the area. On the fourth day, while they toured the Machu Picchu ruins, I hiked an hour down to the river and an hour up the Putu Kussey mountain on the other side. This was a very scary climb. Some sections of the trail were tall and vertical cliffs. There were wet and slippery wooden ladders bolted to the wall. The climb up was a bit challenging, but rewarding.
The day after the Inca Trail, four of us went rafting. We flipped at the beginning of the biggest set of rapids. I fell out and knocked one of my passengers into the water with me. He lost both of his shoes and bruised his shoulder pretty bad before being quickly rescued. Then I floated near Ben for a while. He lost his shoe and was eventually rescued by another raft. Before the raft could save me, I went under the water and we lost sight of each other. It was very dark and peaceful under the water while I was waiting to pop back up and struggle for a quick breath before being sucked back under.
Then I was being washed downstream next to another one of my passengers. He grabbed onto the back of the rescue kayak, washed around a big rock and was deposited on the shore by the kayaker, minus one shoe and with a bruised thigh and scraped toes. Before the big rock, which I really wanted to avoid, I managed to swim to an eddy and pulled myself ashore with both shoes and only a scraped shin.
Eventually, the kayak came to rescue us. This involved us holding on while he pulled us into the rapids. A raft quickly caught up to us, and without too much more punishment, we were pulled in. Him first, naturally. I was still enjoying the swim.
Ben and I did manage to fall in one more time near the end, but we were quickly rescued and it was uneventful.
We flew from Cuzco to Arequipa and enjoyed a free day there. Then we went on to the Colca Canyon. It is a great place, but we are always rushed there with only two days. I rearranged the trip and we spent three days up there. On our full day in the Canyon, we hiked down to the river. We had lunch and did a bit of swimming before hiking back to the top.
After returning to Arequipa, we took the regularly scheduled night bus to Nasca, flew over the lines and toured the area and went on up to the oasis for some sandboarding. Two days later we were in Lima and had our farewell dinner.
I spent a few free days with my friends Luis and Karem. Then I took a bus to the mountains for a quick get away before my final trip with GAP. Four hours from Lima, at sea level, I was crossing over a pass in the Andes at 4818 meters (somewhere around 15,000 feet). I continued on the bus past Junin and got off in Carhaumayo. The next day I did a nice 12 or so mile walk up the valley and over the small pass at the end. I took a bus to Morococha, the nearest small town to the 4818 meter pass called Ticlio. Morococha has no hotels, but I met a woman, whose son took me to see his uncle who directed us to another uncle's house. I rented a most disgusting and dirty room for the night in this high altitude mining town. The bathroom was the alley behind the house. I ate in a small cafeteria and helped three young students with their English.
The next day, I took a bus up to the pass and had a pleasant five hour hike up in the mountains. I saw a bit of snow and also saw five vicunas. My previous day's hike was fun, but not challenging. This day, at over 5,000 meters, I was having fun. At one point in my explorations, I had to make my way down a cliff. Looking back at it, I could not figure out how I had done it.
That afternoon I went back to Lima and spent a day or two there before my current trip started.
On the 10th of May, I left Lima with my eight new passengers and my new trainee, Stephane. We visited Pisco and the oasis before getting to Nazca. After a long delay due to fog, they did their flights over the lines and we left for Arequipa. Normally we take a night bus, but we had to leave earlier than normal to avoid the nationwide strike on the 14th of May.
We arrived in Arequipa late last night. Today is a free day for everyone. The strike is pretty interesting. People are protesting the government in general and privatization in particular. There are broken bottles and rocks in the streets and lots of people marching with signs and chants. The riot police are well positioned, but all has been quiet so far.
Thursday, March 21, 2002
Ecuador, working in Peru and Bolivia and a visit to Florida
I know, I know, it has been a long time since I have updated these pages. But, I can assure you, it has not been for lack of anything to say.
I spent the last two weeks of November and first two weeks of December continuing my Spanish Language studies in Cuenca. I finally advanced enough to learn something called the Subjunctive. We do not have anything like it in English and I found it difficult. Maria Elena, my teacher worked with me and I at least understand the concept now. I hold my cousin Nancy personally responsible for all of my difficulties. She has studied lots of French and should be aware of this difficult form of verb conjugation. She did not warn me at all.
In the middle of November I had planned to go to the nearby National Park of Cajas for a weekend camping trip. Unfortunately, the Ecuadorian government had other plans. They banned the sale of alcohol at noon on Saturday and declared martial law on Sunday until 5:00 pm. Only census workers were allowed out on Sunday. The census workers were high school students. They went door to door through-out the country and asked a series of questions about the people in each house. Even tourists and students were included in the count. When it was my turn to sit with the census taker, my whole Ecuadorian family gathered around to watch the show. They were especially amused when I came to the question of my race. I had to choose between Indian, black, mixed, and several others. I replied that I was 100% gringo and the census taker seemed to find a place on her form for that.
The day before the census I did manage a trip out to Cajas for a day hike. It was its usual gray day, but I had a good time. The next weekend I headed out with my tent and camping equipment. I took a bus to one side of the park and spent three days walking to the other side. It was a little cold, but I had a great time. When I packed up on Monday morning to head back to town, my tent was still covered with frost. Mario was impressed when I got home and unrolled my tent. We shook it out over the balcony and watched it snow down below. For my last weekend in Cuenca, I led a guided tour to the park. Several of the Spanish teachers and students at my school asked me to take them to the park and lead them on a hike. I had discovered a fairly easy four hour walk that was mostly down hill and took them for a nice walk. Even though it rained alot, we had fun.
The 4th of December was a school day, but I enjoyed it anyway. I spent the morning of my 30th birthday studying Spanish in my room. My family made a nice lunch for me and even got a cake. Then I went to class for the afternoon. I told my teacher that I was now older and she should begin to use the formal Usted form and not the informal tu form when addressing me. She complied. That night dad called and I had a nice chat on the phone with dad, Elizabeth and Emily.
My six weeks of classes ended in the middle of December and I started north immediately. I visited Riobamba and looked at the pretty mountains in the middle of Ecuador. I had planned to come back and climb them, but first I headed for Quito, the capital. I had wanted to get a job leading tours down here eventually, so I swung by the Quito office of GAP Adventures, a Canadian company that does tours in Latin America. On Monday, the 17th of December, I had an interview, in Spanish mind you. On the 18th I signed a six month contract and on the 19th I flew to Lima, Peru to start working.
I spent a few days in the Lima office learning the ropes and then set off on my self-training trip. My first trip started on the 28th of December in La Paz, Bolivia. I took five days to get there and visited Pisco, Nasca, Arequipa and Puno along the way. I stopped in those cities to meet the local operators and check out the hotels. It was nice to be able to show up in a town, say who I am , and have people offer me free hotel rooms and meals again.
GAP is a bit different than Trek America. It is much easier. We take public buses, so I do not have to drive. We stay in hotels and eat in restaurants, so we do not have to camp or cook every night. We have local guides every where we go, so I do not have to be the person who is knowledgeable about everything and know all of the answers. It is enjoyable and I will have fun for the entire six months.
For my first trip I only had three passengers, three young people from Sydney, Australia. The first day of the trip I took them up to the hills and we had a nice hike. The second day we had lunch in Copacabana and went on to Puno, Peru.
On the 31st, we visited the man-made floating islands of Uros. They are made of reeds and if you stand in one place too long, you will sink. We spent the night on Amanatni Island and danced around the bonfire to welcome in the new year. On Amantani, the group splits up into pairs and we are each adopted by a local family. We get to hang out in their dark kitchen, watch the guinea pigs run around and see our food being cooked over a fire. They do not eat much meat on the island, so or meals are generally eggs, potatoes and rice, with some quinoa soup.
On the 1st we visited the nearby island of Taquile before returning to Puno. Then we had a day long bus ride to Cuzco and went river rafting the next day. Then we took a tour of the Sacred Valley and visited the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Pisaq and Ollantaytambo before starting the four day Inca Trail. After we got to camp the first night, they collapsed and I went on a quick two hour hike up the mountainside. The next day we went up to the 13,000 foot pass and they rested while I took a quick one hour side hike up the mountainside. The second day is very long and I did not have time for an evening hike in the rain. The third day we went to Winaywinay and checked out those impressive ruins. The fourth day we had our tour of Machu Picchu and returned to Cuzco to have a free day.
From Cuzco, we flew to Arequipa and took a two day tour of the Colca Canyon. We soaked in the hot springs of Chivay and looked for condors in the valley. After a free day in Arequipa, we took an over night bus to Nasca in time to fly over the lines and tour the cemetery, gold extraction plant and pottery factory before lounging by the pool all afternoon. The next day we went to one of my favorite places in all of Peru for lunch, Huacachina. This is the desert oasis that I spent some time at in 1999 and 2000. We rented sand boards and played on the big dunes. Then we came to Lima and that was the end of my first three week tour for GAP.
I had a few days off between trips and decided to go for a walk one day. I walked south along the beach and rounded a rocky point. From this final beach the road turned inland and a dirt road continued along the coast. I was amazed that after only one hour of walking from the office, I had found a quiet place in a city of eight million. I passed the last few people along the coast, a couple of fishermen, and enjoyed another thirty minutes of feeling like I was in the middle of nowhere. Then I found out that those last two fisherman had trouble making ends meet and were also thieves. They came up from behind me and held a sharp piece of glass to my neck. They made me sit down and searched me for money. They found my wallet and were very excited indeed to find over US$200, which is more than a month's normal wages. One of them told the other to count it, but that seemed like a ridiculous request to me and the other guy, since they already had the money and did not need to waste time with me around. Then they searched me for a cell phone and seemed a bit disappointed that I did not have one. Maybe they felt a little bad about taking so much, so they explained to me that they were hungry and needed the money to eat. I guess they are better robbers than fishermen because when they walked away they had a lot more money than fish. They did not leave me with even a cent, so I had to walk the hour and a half back to the office. Luckily, GAP is a very understanding company and I was able to put the whole loss on my expense accounts.
The next day I started the same three week trip, back to La Paz. Except, in February, the regular Inca trail is closed for cleaning and raining, so we did an easier trail, called the Ecological Trail, that parallels the river and has no high passes, which all ten of my passengers were perfectly happy with. On the second day, one of my passengers, a 63 year old grandmother, fell about twenty feet off a cliff. She crashed through trees for the first 15 feet or so and then dropped straight down the last six feet or so. A moment after she landed on her backside, a rock bigger than her head landed squarely on her chest. I raced down there to look for the body, but she was perfectly (almost) fine. She had a large but shallow cut on her arm and a bruised ankle. She also had trouble breathing. We took the hour walk to camp slowly and then I accompanied her and her husband to town to visit the doctor. Amazingly, nothing was broken and she was able to continue the trip, although a bit more slowly for the first few days.
When we visited Amantani Island I had a great conversation in Spanish with our local grandmother in the kitchen. The next day I discovered that, like most old people and kids under six, she did not speak Spanish, only Quechua. Oh well.
We were supposed to drive to La Paz on the 13th of February, but the Bolivian workers were on strike and blocking the highways. So, instead, we left the Festival of the Virgen of Candelaria in Puno and took a night bus back to Cuzco. The next morning we flew to La Paz and ended our trip.
On the 15th of February I flew back to Florida. On the 20th of February I had an interview at the Japanese Consulate in Miami to teach English in Japan as part of the JET Programme. I had to wear a jacket and tie for the first time since 1989. I think the interview went well and I hope to hear back from them any week now.
After a good two week visit with all of my Florida family, I flew back to Lima. I handed out all of mom's homemade brownies and zucchini breads and then met my new group of eight for a two week trip. We flew to Puno and visited the islands of Lake Titicaca before going to Cuzco. We hiked the regular Inca Trail and got very wet. It is still rainy season. I had time for some nice side hikes on days one and two while every one rested. On the last day of the Inca Trail we got up at 4:00am and went to see the sunrise over the ruins, but the rain did not let up and we got cold and wet instead. We went back to Cuzco that evening for fruit and chocolate fondue. After a brief visit to the bar, I went back to the hotel and slept until 5:00am.
At around 5:00am I heard a knock on my door. I opened it and Carol, one of my passengers, told me that her friend Craig had been kidnapped and she had been robbed. I followed her down to reception to try to get the whole story. She did not remember anything after leaving the club and before waking up in her bed. By then, Craig and her money and credit cards were gone. She went up to her room while I found out who had brought her home and when they had left. Then she came down nearly hysterical because the bathroom door was locked and Craig was still missing. I went up and opened the door to the empty bedroom, then I went to the club and found Craig watching sunrise over the plaza. I convinced him to stagger home and demonstrate that he was okay to Carol. Then I spent an hour going around town to find the numbers to call to cancel the credit cards. Eventually, Carol cancelled the cards. Later she decided that maybe she had spent all of her money on drinks. Also, later, she found her credit cards in her shoe.
The next day we went to the airport, and after many hours of delay, flew to Puerto Maldonado, in the jungle of the Amazon Basin of Peru. We took a boat up the very muddy and swollen Tambobata River to our lodge, Posada Amazonas. Our rooms were in a very well constructed bamboo building, with one entire side of the room open to the jungle. Also, there was no electricity and the room doors were only curtains. We did have private bathrooms, but no hot water in the shower. The beds had mosquito nets to protect us as we slept. It was a beautiful place.
The next day we woke up before sunrise and went on a boat trip to see the abundant bird life and some river otters. Then we went for a swim in the river before lunch and a nap. Before dinner, we visited a natural medicine clinic and learned about each tree in the garden and which diseases it could treat.
Last Sunday, we our flight was again greatly delayed, but we eventually took off. We landed for a thirty minute layover in Cuzco. Unfortunately, rumor has it, that a person who was already very sick before he got on the plane, died after we had landed in Cuzco. It took several hours of waiting in the airport until the police were done and the body was removed from the plane before we could carry on with our flight.
We eventually made it back to Lima and had our farewell dinner. Now I am spending the week getting ready for my next trip and visiting my friend, Luis. Tomorrow, I begin my three week trip to La Paz.
I spent the last two weeks of November and first two weeks of December continuing my Spanish Language studies in Cuenca. I finally advanced enough to learn something called the Subjunctive. We do not have anything like it in English and I found it difficult. Maria Elena, my teacher worked with me and I at least understand the concept now. I hold my cousin Nancy personally responsible for all of my difficulties. She has studied lots of French and should be aware of this difficult form of verb conjugation. She did not warn me at all.
In the middle of November I had planned to go to the nearby National Park of Cajas for a weekend camping trip. Unfortunately, the Ecuadorian government had other plans. They banned the sale of alcohol at noon on Saturday and declared martial law on Sunday until 5:00 pm. Only census workers were allowed out on Sunday. The census workers were high school students. They went door to door through-out the country and asked a series of questions about the people in each house. Even tourists and students were included in the count. When it was my turn to sit with the census taker, my whole Ecuadorian family gathered around to watch the show. They were especially amused when I came to the question of my race. I had to choose between Indian, black, mixed, and several others. I replied that I was 100% gringo and the census taker seemed to find a place on her form for that.
The day before the census I did manage a trip out to Cajas for a day hike. It was its usual gray day, but I had a good time. The next weekend I headed out with my tent and camping equipment. I took a bus to one side of the park and spent three days walking to the other side. It was a little cold, but I had a great time. When I packed up on Monday morning to head back to town, my tent was still covered with frost. Mario was impressed when I got home and unrolled my tent. We shook it out over the balcony and watched it snow down below. For my last weekend in Cuenca, I led a guided tour to the park. Several of the Spanish teachers and students at my school asked me to take them to the park and lead them on a hike. I had discovered a fairly easy four hour walk that was mostly down hill and took them for a nice walk. Even though it rained alot, we had fun.
The 4th of December was a school day, but I enjoyed it anyway. I spent the morning of my 30th birthday studying Spanish in my room. My family made a nice lunch for me and even got a cake. Then I went to class for the afternoon. I told my teacher that I was now older and she should begin to use the formal Usted form and not the informal tu form when addressing me. She complied. That night dad called and I had a nice chat on the phone with dad, Elizabeth and Emily.
My six weeks of classes ended in the middle of December and I started north immediately. I visited Riobamba and looked at the pretty mountains in the middle of Ecuador. I had planned to come back and climb them, but first I headed for Quito, the capital. I had wanted to get a job leading tours down here eventually, so I swung by the Quito office of GAP Adventures, a Canadian company that does tours in Latin America. On Monday, the 17th of December, I had an interview, in Spanish mind you. On the 18th I signed a six month contract and on the 19th I flew to Lima, Peru to start working.
I spent a few days in the Lima office learning the ropes and then set off on my self-training trip. My first trip started on the 28th of December in La Paz, Bolivia. I took five days to get there and visited Pisco, Nasca, Arequipa and Puno along the way. I stopped in those cities to meet the local operators and check out the hotels. It was nice to be able to show up in a town, say who I am , and have people offer me free hotel rooms and meals again.
GAP is a bit different than Trek America. It is much easier. We take public buses, so I do not have to drive. We stay in hotels and eat in restaurants, so we do not have to camp or cook every night. We have local guides every where we go, so I do not have to be the person who is knowledgeable about everything and know all of the answers. It is enjoyable and I will have fun for the entire six months.
For my first trip I only had three passengers, three young people from Sydney, Australia. The first day of the trip I took them up to the hills and we had a nice hike. The second day we had lunch in Copacabana and went on to Puno, Peru.
On the 31st, we visited the man-made floating islands of Uros. They are made of reeds and if you stand in one place too long, you will sink. We spent the night on Amanatni Island and danced around the bonfire to welcome in the new year. On Amantani, the group splits up into pairs and we are each adopted by a local family. We get to hang out in their dark kitchen, watch the guinea pigs run around and see our food being cooked over a fire. They do not eat much meat on the island, so or meals are generally eggs, potatoes and rice, with some quinoa soup.
On the 1st we visited the nearby island of Taquile before returning to Puno. Then we had a day long bus ride to Cuzco and went river rafting the next day. Then we took a tour of the Sacred Valley and visited the ruins of Sacsayhuaman, Pisaq and Ollantaytambo before starting the four day Inca Trail. After we got to camp the first night, they collapsed and I went on a quick two hour hike up the mountainside. The next day we went up to the 13,000 foot pass and they rested while I took a quick one hour side hike up the mountainside. The second day is very long and I did not have time for an evening hike in the rain. The third day we went to Winaywinay and checked out those impressive ruins. The fourth day we had our tour of Machu Picchu and returned to Cuzco to have a free day.
From Cuzco, we flew to Arequipa and took a two day tour of the Colca Canyon. We soaked in the hot springs of Chivay and looked for condors in the valley. After a free day in Arequipa, we took an over night bus to Nasca in time to fly over the lines and tour the cemetery, gold extraction plant and pottery factory before lounging by the pool all afternoon. The next day we went to one of my favorite places in all of Peru for lunch, Huacachina. This is the desert oasis that I spent some time at in 1999 and 2000. We rented sand boards and played on the big dunes. Then we came to Lima and that was the end of my first three week tour for GAP.
I had a few days off between trips and decided to go for a walk one day. I walked south along the beach and rounded a rocky point. From this final beach the road turned inland and a dirt road continued along the coast. I was amazed that after only one hour of walking from the office, I had found a quiet place in a city of eight million. I passed the last few people along the coast, a couple of fishermen, and enjoyed another thirty minutes of feeling like I was in the middle of nowhere. Then I found out that those last two fisherman had trouble making ends meet and were also thieves. They came up from behind me and held a sharp piece of glass to my neck. They made me sit down and searched me for money. They found my wallet and were very excited indeed to find over US$200, which is more than a month's normal wages. One of them told the other to count it, but that seemed like a ridiculous request to me and the other guy, since they already had the money and did not need to waste time with me around. Then they searched me for a cell phone and seemed a bit disappointed that I did not have one. Maybe they felt a little bad about taking so much, so they explained to me that they were hungry and needed the money to eat. I guess they are better robbers than fishermen because when they walked away they had a lot more money than fish. They did not leave me with even a cent, so I had to walk the hour and a half back to the office. Luckily, GAP is a very understanding company and I was able to put the whole loss on my expense accounts.
The next day I started the same three week trip, back to La Paz. Except, in February, the regular Inca trail is closed for cleaning and raining, so we did an easier trail, called the Ecological Trail, that parallels the river and has no high passes, which all ten of my passengers were perfectly happy with. On the second day, one of my passengers, a 63 year old grandmother, fell about twenty feet off a cliff. She crashed through trees for the first 15 feet or so and then dropped straight down the last six feet or so. A moment after she landed on her backside, a rock bigger than her head landed squarely on her chest. I raced down there to look for the body, but she was perfectly (almost) fine. She had a large but shallow cut on her arm and a bruised ankle. She also had trouble breathing. We took the hour walk to camp slowly and then I accompanied her and her husband to town to visit the doctor. Amazingly, nothing was broken and she was able to continue the trip, although a bit more slowly for the first few days.
When we visited Amantani Island I had a great conversation in Spanish with our local grandmother in the kitchen. The next day I discovered that, like most old people and kids under six, she did not speak Spanish, only Quechua. Oh well.
We were supposed to drive to La Paz on the 13th of February, but the Bolivian workers were on strike and blocking the highways. So, instead, we left the Festival of the Virgen of Candelaria in Puno and took a night bus back to Cuzco. The next morning we flew to La Paz and ended our trip.
On the 15th of February I flew back to Florida. On the 20th of February I had an interview at the Japanese Consulate in Miami to teach English in Japan as part of the JET Programme. I had to wear a jacket and tie for the first time since 1989. I think the interview went well and I hope to hear back from them any week now.
After a good two week visit with all of my Florida family, I flew back to Lima. I handed out all of mom's homemade brownies and zucchini breads and then met my new group of eight for a two week trip. We flew to Puno and visited the islands of Lake Titicaca before going to Cuzco. We hiked the regular Inca Trail and got very wet. It is still rainy season. I had time for some nice side hikes on days one and two while every one rested. On the last day of the Inca Trail we got up at 4:00am and went to see the sunrise over the ruins, but the rain did not let up and we got cold and wet instead. We went back to Cuzco that evening for fruit and chocolate fondue. After a brief visit to the bar, I went back to the hotel and slept until 5:00am.
At around 5:00am I heard a knock on my door. I opened it and Carol, one of my passengers, told me that her friend Craig had been kidnapped and she had been robbed. I followed her down to reception to try to get the whole story. She did not remember anything after leaving the club and before waking up in her bed. By then, Craig and her money and credit cards were gone. She went up to her room while I found out who had brought her home and when they had left. Then she came down nearly hysterical because the bathroom door was locked and Craig was still missing. I went up and opened the door to the empty bedroom, then I went to the club and found Craig watching sunrise over the plaza. I convinced him to stagger home and demonstrate that he was okay to Carol. Then I spent an hour going around town to find the numbers to call to cancel the credit cards. Eventually, Carol cancelled the cards. Later she decided that maybe she had spent all of her money on drinks. Also, later, she found her credit cards in her shoe.
The next day we went to the airport, and after many hours of delay, flew to Puerto Maldonado, in the jungle of the Amazon Basin of Peru. We took a boat up the very muddy and swollen Tambobata River to our lodge, Posada Amazonas. Our rooms were in a very well constructed bamboo building, with one entire side of the room open to the jungle. Also, there was no electricity and the room doors were only curtains. We did have private bathrooms, but no hot water in the shower. The beds had mosquito nets to protect us as we slept. It was a beautiful place.
The next day we woke up before sunrise and went on a boat trip to see the abundant bird life and some river otters. Then we went for a swim in the river before lunch and a nap. Before dinner, we visited a natural medicine clinic and learned about each tree in the garden and which diseases it could treat.
Last Sunday, we our flight was again greatly delayed, but we eventually took off. We landed for a thirty minute layover in Cuzco. Unfortunately, rumor has it, that a person who was already very sick before he got on the plane, died after we had landed in Cuzco. It took several hours of waiting in the airport until the police were done and the body was removed from the plane before we could carry on with our flight.
We eventually made it back to Lima and had our farewell dinner. Now I am spending the week getting ready for my next trip and visiting my friend, Luis. Tomorrow, I begin my three week trip to La Paz.
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