Chaotic Seas
Embarking on a nine month cruise seems exciting yet daunting! First, we are traveling through the Caribbean which I’ve done many times. The sea is a little rougher than normal with the ship rocking enough to make some people sick. Thankfully, that is not the case for Brian or me. As I look out over the waves, I’m reminded of something Tim from the Bible Project said about the sea representing chaos and sin. It does seem very chaotic and without direction, which aptly describes so many in the world today. Many have no direction, and are tossed back and forth by this idea or fad or the culture in general. This way of living seems to bring no peace or hope to their lives. Right now, my heart overflows with gratitude, as I consider the firm anchor I have in Christ. This anchor holds me steady no matter how chaotic the world or sea may be. (Psalms 103:19 The Lord has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.)
Another God Wink
What is it about flights and God winks? Flying to Cusco, I had another God Wink that involved my music playlist.
Cusco has an elevation over 11,000 feet, which can bring many risks to those flying into it. If you have high blood pressure or breathing problems, you should be cleared by your doctor to travel. At dinner one evening during the second leg of our cruise, a tablemate from Chile informed us that he experienced a stroke at Cusco while trying to visit Machu Picchu. We know a fellow passenger, John, whose doctor didn’t clear him to travel up to the elevations of Cusco because of a recent surgery. My doctor knew of this trip and my blood pressure issues, but we didn’t speak specifically about the impact on me going to these heights. So as I contemplate this, I wasn’t worried but my thoughts did bring on some anxiety of the unknown. Should I have had this discussion with her?
While we were flying over the mountains coming into Cusco I heard a beautiful song coming through my earbuds, by Tauren Wells, called “Hills and Valleys”. Here are the lyrics that I heard. “You’re God of the hills and valleys, hills and valleys, God of the hills and valleys, and I am not alone.” It is so reassuring, knowing that I am not alone no matter where I am. Whether I am in the valley where we started from or the BIG hills to which we were traveling. Or even on the seas on the ship. God is always with me! Amen!
A Subic Bay Filipino Welcome
The Filipino people at Subic Bay had such a warm welcome for us. As our ship was approaching the dock you could hear the music. I got out the binoculars and could also see dancers. It always takes some time to get docked and clear the port authorities and they gave us a show the whole time. It was very impressive! We went out and enjoyed our day, which ended with Brian getting an 1&1/2 hour Shiatsu massage and me an hour Swedish massage and 30 minute facial, both for $40 dollars, a great deal! Usually at the end of the day when we go back to the port all of the venders have gone home, but not here. So we spent the rest of our Filipino money and got back on the ship. These people waited and waited in the over 90 degree heat with high humidity to wave goodbye and take photos and videos when we left. Some of them made big heart symbols with their arms. Brian and I thought this was very sweet of them. Afterwards, I found out that we were the first ship to come to Subic Bay since the travel ban with covid, so that did make it a bigger deal. But still, we will think of that farewell very fondly. People have been so nice all over the world.
I saw this article on a Facebook post.
Cruise ship carrying 2,500 tourists makes port at Subic Bay
Musings of My Time in Japan
Japan is a very nice country. Everyone onboard that I talked to when asked, “How did you like Japan?” said that they loved it. It was very clean, people were mannerly, and I always felt safe. Many people said, “This was our nation many years ago and we have lost so much. I wish we could get it back.”
Our first two destinations were Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the locations where we, the US, dropped the atomic bombs. We took a deep dive into this by visiting the Peace Memorial Parks and Museums in both locations. Some of the stuff we saw was horrific and so very sad. Several memorials had a bunch of water bottles placed in front of them and I didn’t understand why until I saw in the museum that people were so thirsty after the bombing, but there was no water to drink. I know that our country felt that the bombs were necessary to save the lives of many of our men, and I believe that was so, but I hope that our world never has to repeat this again.
In our encounters with the Japanese people we found them all to be kind to us, and I started pondering this. We are people from a country that 79 years ago bombed their country with two atomic bombs that killed many innocent people and made many more suffer for many years. Why don’t they hate us? Is it their religion that promotes love and not hate? Is it because the US didn’t take over their country after the surrender? We were definitely the superior power and could have said that now you are part of the United States. Is it because we helped and supported the recovery? I really don’t know how this happened, but a peaceful trust has occurred between our two countries, and it’s beautiful.
Their museums focus on peace. This is what happened here, it was a terrible thing, and please, may it never happen again. May it be so!
Musings of My Time in Vietnam
I was very excited to be able to visit Vietnam, especially since my daughter-in-law’s parents came from this country. Our first day was spent in the Nha Trang area with the Captain, who had refurbished an American Jeep used in the war that his father fought in. He took us to some old military sites and I could imagine the soldiers there during that terrible time.
Motorcycles are everywhere! It’s their primary form of transportation. They haul everything on the back of their motorcycles, from cages of rabbits to branches of a medicinal plant to huge boxes holding who knows what. It was amazing to see.
It was very hot and humid here, I think around 93 degrees. The women that you would see on the motorcycles were covered from head to toe, but not in lite-weight clothing. They had on hoody sweatshirts and gloves! I know you could say that they live here so they are used to the heat, but I still couldn’t understand it. The guides that I had both days said that they cover up like this to keep their skin light, because that is what is considered beautiful. Dark skin is ugly to them. The Captain said that if a girl does not have light skin no one will want to marry her. The discomfort women will go through for beauty is crazy to think about.
I also started thinking about how we get vitamin D by being in the sun at least a little bit each day. In a country where there is not always good nutrition, they deprive themselves of a free and necessary vitamin in the name of beauty.
There’s nothing wrong with protecting your skin from the sun, but this was an overboard extreme. What extreme things do women in the US do for beauty? I can think of several things. Why do women still continue to do these things in the name of beauty?
Musings about the Crew
When we got on the ship, one thing we were excited about was getting to know the crew better. What we didn’t think about was the “Goodbyes.” On a normal cruise schedule the crew say “Hello,”and after a week “Goodbye,” over and over again. Now it’s the passengers saying “Goodbye” to the crew because their contract is over, and the “Hello” to the new crew. The first big change over was in LA and we were not prepared. We noticed a favorite was not around so after inquiring found out that he had gotten off in LA and we hadn’t even said “Goodbye.” Now we’re always asking “How long are you on the ship?” so we don’t miss saying how much we appreciate them.
It’s fun to see them enjoying themselves on the=is world cruise at the different ports. We try to bless them when we can, for example: We saw one of our waitresses and a bartender having lunch together, so we paid their bill. Sometimes when we head back to the ship we have a little local currency left, so we give it to the crew we see out and about. One day before we got off in China, our room Stewart was excited to be going to the Great Wall. We gave him $20 in Chinese money, which he was explained later came in very handy for souvenirs and snacks because they didn’t take any other currency.
In the Philippines, Indonesia, and coming up in India, the crew can bring their family onboard to see where they work. We love to see the excited crew anticipating these visits and we love to see their families stunned with the beauty of our ship! We love to hear stories of their homes and families! We definitely have a different atmosphere here on the world cruise. Even the passengers who get on for 1 segment have noticed it. I’ve heard many of them say that they wish that they didn’t have to leave and could stay on for the rest of the way to Miami.
An Interesting Visit-Thoughts on UAE
First, this country is so clean and pristine (except for the dusty desert). We were visiting Aimee here (a family friend, who graduated with Nathaniel and Brittani). Our first city was Abu Dhabi where we went to the Abrahamic Family House. It holds a Christian Church, a Synagogue, and a Mosque, all designed with such detail to symbolize each respective religion. It’s designed to show that we can all peacefully co-exist and have dialogue with each other. There was a bubbling water feature with lights showing that light and water are important symbols in all three religions. It was truly beautiful and I enjoyed seeing it. I got the feeling on this UAE visit that this is similar to how this country feels, we can all peacefully co-habit this place.
In Al Ain, the town Aimee lives in; Aimee, her roommate, Abi, and I went on a visit to one of their friend’s new homes. She was recently married, so lives with her husband’s family. This family is from Afghanistan and part of an ethnic group called Pashtuns. Aimee and Abi speak their language so I just observed or communicated through them. We were led into a courtyard, which had several rooms around that open up into it, where we were greeted by each woman at the home with a handshake and an air kiss on each side of the cheek. Then we were led up stairs to a living-type room on a second floor. It had red cushions on the floor all around the edge of the room that we sat on and a big screen tv that the little kids came and played video games on later. (They acted just like American kids and were very cute!). I felt bad because I couldn’t sit criss-crossed style like everyone else and that my legs were sticking out in the way. I was wondering which woman was their friend, Abidah, and when I asked they said that they hadn’t seen her yet and that she must be cooking the dinner.
For quite awhile the mother-in-law sat and talked with us. Another of her daughters brought us some juice and a platter of pistachios, almonds, cashews, and some crunchy snack, candy, and pieces of cake. Later they brought in hot tea. We just sat, ate a little, and talked a long time! This visit started at 8PM and I don’t think we left until 11:30PM. The mother-in-law asked through my friends if I had any children and I answered that I had four. She was surprised and said that this was not usual for an American woman. Then she asked if I had boys or girls, so I told her that I had 3 girls and 1 boy. Then she said that if I were one of them that my husband would’ve taken another wife to have more sons.
At some point (I think about 1&1/2 hours into the visit) we found out that Abidah had a dizzy spell and went to see the doctor. Later we found out the that Abidah had been talking to her mother who was upset because her father was taking a 2nd wife, so this might have caused her dizziness. We asked if we should and come back another time and they said that we should wait for her. (I think these women love visitors because they don’t go out very often, not even to the store. Think about covid quarantine.).
At one point one of the younger daughters sat down to talk. She was the one who has been serving the food. She told us that she was now able to go to school because the Sheikh has decided that some girls should get more education and her dad is allowing her to go to the upper education school. I asked if the school was hard for her and she said no, but the regular students goofed off a lot and didn’t take it seriously. She seemed very happy about being able to go to school, but it was hard to tell because these women didn’t show a lot of emotion. Remember, all three of us were strangers to them. The one we were to visit still wasn’t there and Aimee and Abi had not really met this family, although they did attend the wedding.
I was so amazed at Abi’s skill with keeping conversation going with these women she had never met before and had so little in common with. The younger girl was happy to bring out two of her special occasion dresses to show them off to us. They love to wear bling and glitter because their style of dress is so limited. We wore their type of clothing to the visit, to respect their culture. This outfit consisted of baggy pants, a dress that comes below the knees that has bright colors, and a scarf over your head draped in a way so that it covers the chest area, also. Until we were inside we also wore a black coat and a black scarf fitted tightly around the face. My inside scarf kept slipping off my head and was such a bother.
Later in the evening they served us a dinner of chicken, rice, tomatoes, cucumbers and yogurt. They use their hands as eating utensils, but did give us a spoon to use. They just place a plastic tablecloth on the floors a table and when we were done they gather it up and throw it all away for a quick clean up. The food was good. The Pashtuns are known for their hospitality. After dinner we visited a little more and then found out that Abidah was staying at the doctor’s office to wait for some lab test results, so we decided that it was time to leave.
Whoever would have thought that I would ever be in the UAE, let alone in a local home visiting and being served food? What an experience!
The next day we got breakfast from a bakery where only the men walk up to the window. I road with Abi and they recognize her, because she called in the order and they bring it to the car. Aimee and Abi try not to go areas where it’s not normal for single women to go to. We got nan with meat inside that was very delicious straight from that bakery’s over.
After breakfast we visited the Al Ain Oasis and Al Jahili Fort, which had a fantastic photo display by Wilfred Thesiger of the Sheik and the Arabian desert.
Then we had lunch with Aimee’s team, Levi and Betsy (from Tulsa and Ozark Christian College),
John and Luke (who are pastors at Redeemer Church and have priest visas), and Abi (who is Aimee’s roommate and is leaving soon because she is getting married and grew up as a missionary kid in Japan). The local food was good, which always includes nan, humus, cucumbers, greens and rice. This time we also had chicken and lamb.
After lunch we visited the ladies’ park where they go for entertainment on Friday night. Only women and children are allowed. Aimee and her friends go with hopes of interacting with the ladies here. It’s one of times that the women can get out of the home. Aimee says that the women notice that she and her friends love each other differently, that something is different about them. Aimee hopes that they keep being curious, so that they can keep sharing hope.
I found out one of the reasons that the UAE are tolerant of Christianity. A while ago, before UAE existed, a sheik noticed that the infant mortality rate was high and the average death rate was lower than nations with Christian hospitals. So he invited doctors to his country and the Kennedy couple accepted. They came and founded a Catholic hospital, but the stipulation was that he would allow them to also have a Catholic Church, which he did. The health statistics did get better after they came, so this relationship was the trailblazer for the conditions here today.
Then we were off to Dubai, with a stop in the desert. Aimee said the desert was the greenest that she has ever seen it. Several weeks prior they had storms with flooding, so the desert had bloomed. It was a little windy, so it was neat to watch how the sand moved over the dunes. I also got to see camels at a camel farm.
We went to old Dubai and the souks. It’s always amazing to see the markets in other countries. The spices looked amazing! The gold market was over the top! Some pieces were almost like a whole chest covering, like a vest. At the market I looked for some clothing for the upcoming Egypt tour and Nile River cruise. I found two pairs of pants and 2 tops that should be cooler that the clothes I have.
We traveled across Dubai creek in a water taxi, which is a really old historic boat called an abra. We traveled back and forth, up and down and walked through the Al Fahidi historical neighborhood to the Arabian Tea House, a bright ,cheery restaurant. We tried avocado and date shakes, but there was no camel ice cream. Everything that we ate was delicious! We tried mixed grill of skewered meats, eggplant type humus called mutabal, tanoor bread that I call naan, a lamb dish, a shrimp dish, fried cheese, some salad type items, and other things that I can’t remember what they’re called.
To end the day we went to the new downtown. On the drive there we passed the Dubai frame, which is a giant frame where if you look through one direction you see Dubai’s history and the the direction to the future of Dubai. We also passed many other interesting buildings, including the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, which had twinkling lights all over it. We went to the Dubai mall, which had every shop you could think of plus more. We saw the spectacular light, music and fountain show and did a little shopping of needed items at H&M. The light show was very good, similar to the one at Bellagio in Vegas. I was so amazed with this mall! It was SOOOOOO busy and this was between 9:30 and 10:30PM. People here stay up late, because they rest during the hot afternoon. I really couldn’t believe the number of people at the mall and especially at that time of night. We were tired after such a long day, but I was glad that we were able to experience all that we did.
Our last stop was a hotel in Sharjah where the next day we fly out to Cairo.
To me Dubai and all of UAE was a great place. I really enjoyed my time in this dynamic, pristine country. How do they keep it so clean with dust from the desert being right there? But they do. People are dressed in all kinds of ways; white robes, black robes and combination of the two, different kinds of things on their heads, fancy designer clothing and just plain jeans. They are moving back and forth in peaceful existence. It would be so nice if the world could live this way. Has God blessed them for the way they treat Israel, the best of all the Middle Eastern countries? It would appear so.
Of course, this was only my observations on a quick 2-day whirlwind tour. There’s so much I don’t know about this country, but based on my time there I came to these conclusions.