Adventures of Traveling Silver Panthers

Contents:

Carol Philpot: "How I Spent My Summer Vacation"

Juanita Baker: "Modern Day Cuba"

 

 

 

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Carol L. Philpot

 

     When I retired in 2001, everybody who knew me was concerned that I would become bored with life because I am an energetic person who needs constant stimulation to be happy. But what they didn’t know was that my husband, Tom, and I had a long-range plan that filled our lives with activity for at least the next twenty years. We didn’t waste a minute launching that plan. Two days after my retirement party we left on our 36 foot Heritage East, Green Acres, for the first of six cruises up and down the inland waterway. Our plan was to go cruising for five years, then sell the boat and start traveling around the world. It took us a little longer than hoped, but after selling our boat this past January, we planned our first overseas jaunt since we lived in Greece on sabbatical in 1994-95. We booked passage on the Disney repositioning cruise from Port Canaveral to Barcelona, Spain, arranged the use of a 300 year old farmhouse in the French alps north of St. Raphael for two months, leased a brand new Peugeot 607 for three months in Europe and a Passat with a steering wheel on the right for a month in Great Britain, bought a five country/two month Eurail Supersaver pass, and booked hotel rooms for sixty nights in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, England, Scotland and Wales. We left Port Canaveral on the Disney Magic, May 12th and returned to Orlando from London via British Airways on September 13th. This article is the first of several describing “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.”

     Our cruise started peacefully enough. Our neighbor dropped us off with our four months worth of luggage at the Port on May 13th. That evening we met our dinner mates for the next 14 nights --- Roland and Ulrici from Frankfort, Germany, and Janice and Dennis from Cincinnati, Ohio. They couldn’t have been more different in personalities. Roland and Ulrici were both surgeons, well-educated, very reserved Disney Vacation Club members who had taken 14 Disney cruises over the years and spent a week every year at the Disney resort in Vero Beach. Janice and Dennis from Ohio, a former Disney store saleswoman and a truck mechanic, were Disney cruise addicts, (Janice having taken 25 cruises over the years). They were very outgoing and knew all the waiters personally, including how many children they had, when they planned to get married and what their next career move might be. What a contrast and what a blast. We were obviously the new kids on the block, since this was only our second Disney cruise. Our trip to Castaway Cay was uneventful and familiar. We hung out on the beach for a while, but it’s so much like home we did not appreciate it like our dinner mates did.

     We left Castaway Cay at 5:00 (1700) for six days at sea with a little thrill of anticipation, neither of us ever having been that far from land before. The e-mail I sent to test our e-mail capabilities that evening read, “We are at 27.36'N 69.33'W, 681 NM from Port Canaveral in the Atlantic. Checking to see if our wireless webmail is working. Tom says our course in 075, and speed is 22 kn. We're having fun so far. Decent weather as of Monday afternoon.” Well, that was the last of that!

     For the entire trip across the Atlantic we were plagued by a cold front that basically traveled at the same speed as the ship from the Bahamas to the Canary Islands. We had six days and nights of gale force 7 winds and twenty foot seas, which the captain was so kind as to label “very rough” in his televised captain’s report, except for the few occasions when it was reduced to “rough.” Janice was disappointed that the swimming pools were constantly filled with tsunamis due to the motion of the boat and the sun was not warm enough to get a suntan the whole trip over. Ulrici got so sick one night she couldn’t eat dinner. Tom and I did not get sick, but I was unable to sleep well. Tom had deliberately selected our cabin midship and down low (on Deck Two), so we wouldn’t feel the rocking of the ship. That worked quite well. The only problem was that I could hear every wave crashing against the side of the ship and sliding under the bottom, which kept me awake all night. And once or twice waves crashed against our porthole even though Deck 2 is thirty or forty feet above the water. But it wasn’t all bad. Unless you have been out to sea, you would not believe how blue, absolutely cobalt blue, the ocean is once you get out of sight of land. And how empty! In six days we only saw one freighter, which we understood later, had actually changed course to come over near us so the crew could take pictures of the Magic. That was partly because our route took us from the Bahamas across the southern part of the North Atlantic to the Canary Islands and most of the shipping routes are in the north. Nevertheless, I was very impressed with the size of the ocean. There is no way I’d want to be out there in a small boat.

     Every night before dinner we frequented a forward bar called Sessions where a pianist entertained us with soft music, that is, until the night we were thrown out for being too loud. You see, we had repeatedly encountered a middle-aged couple playing gin, a game we had forgotten how to play, but wanted to relearn, so my husband went over, introduced himself, and asked them if they would give us a lesson. We agreed to meet the next night for our lesson, but afterward we started conversing and we really connected. The problem was that nobody else could hear the entertainer because we were having too much fun. So we were asked to leave. What made that so funny is that Carol is an executive with Disney, the VP of human relations, who had worked for them for decades and knew Roy Disney personally. Her husband, Eric, was a former security executive for Disney, who had recently launched his own security consulting business. They are LA residents (we forgave them for that) and planned to spend a few extra days in Barcelona at the end of the cruise, just like we did. We discovered that we all were taking the same shore excursion on Tenerife and the trauma of that experience bonded the four of us. (More about that in a moment.) Anyway we did learn to play gin, although I do not win every hand like Carol did.

     Our first port of call after six days at sea was the Canary Islands. The sight of land was very exciting after so much time at sea. We were met by a fireboat spraying water into the air as a way to honor our arrival. From the sea, Tenerife appeared to be a bulge of rugged, barren mountains covered with concrete apartment buildings, not exactly appealing, but nevertheless a welcome site. As was the refueling ship which sidled up beside us and spent the morning replenishing our fuel supply. Lord knows how much that tankful cost! When I mentioned to an officer that I was glad I wasn’t paying that bill, he said with a sly smile, “Oh, but you are.” In the afternoon, Tom and I and Carol and Eric took a jeep ride up to the top of Mt. Tiede where the world’s second largest volcanic crater resides. It was a magnificent sight, miles and miles of scenery that looks to be from outer space --- strange rock formations, dusty and dry, like you’d expect to find on the moon or Mars! It turns out that this is where they filmed Star Wars, The Ten Commandments, and Planet of the Apes. Tom insisted on a picture with him descending the mount as if he were Charleton Heston, or maybe even Moses, carrying the ten commandments. It was a very impressive place, though perhaps not as impressive as the speedy descent in the pouring rain back down the mountain road with no guardrails and steep drops to the sea in our jeep whose canvas top was sagging with water and whose doors and windows rattled with every one of the persistent potholes. Carol prayed the whole way down; Eric held her hand and comforted her; I closed my eyes and tried to sleep; Tom distracted the driver with comments about the pretty women we passed along the way. Says something about our personalities, doesn’t it?

     The departure from Tenerife was beautiful, full of photo ops with the sun setting behind the jagged cliffs, and we watched it from Sessions while playing gin next to Carol and Eric who were doing the same. Unfortunately, traveling north off the coast of Morocco, we were heading directly into a cold front coming down from England and once again we were in 20 foot seas, this time climbing the waves and riding them back down in a rhythmic motion. For some reason this motion seemed to make more people sick, including the head chef at Palo’s (the Deck 10 adults only restaurant) and our waiter at Sessions, who chided Tom for consistently pointing out when the next wave was coming. My husband has a demented sense of humor.

     We docked in Cadiz very early in the morning and by 8:00 we were aboard a bus to Seville. The countryside between Seville and Cadiz, the Andalucia region of Spain, is very fertile and beautiful. We saw the Alcazar and Christopher Columbus’ crypt in a cathedral that dates back to Moorish occupation in some parts. Our guide pointed out that Jews, Muslims and Christians had lived in the Seville area for many centuries without strife and conflict, hinting that if they could do it, why couldn’t the whole world?

     The next day we visited Gibraltar, where we took a tour to the top of the Rock. It was absolutely breathtaking. It is possible to see Africa (Morocco) from there as well as the southern tip of Spain, the Straits of Gibraltar, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic Ocean. The seagulls fly below you catching the updraft from the sheer cliffs. The harbor was filled with twenty or more freighters from everywhere in the world at anchor so close together you’d think they were cars in a parking lot. The top of the Rock is covered with Barbary apes which run wild. Each ape has a name and is registered with the British government. They steal from the tourists, especially food, and jump on their shoulders, rifle in their backpacks and make themselves a nuisance in general. I was not pleased, but Tom loved them. It was here on top of the Rock that we met Ducky Williams, the artist who created Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White among literally thousands of other Disney characters. Tom took a picture of Ducky holding the Magic in his hand and later presented him with a copy which he entitled, “The Wonder of Magic in the Artist’s Hand.” Tom has a bit of artistry in him as well.

     From the Rock, we cruised a contrastingly calm Mediterranean Sea to Barcelona where the city and Disney put on a huge fireworks display to celebrate our arrival. The following day we took a day tour of Barcelona, including the famous Temple Familia designed by Gaudi (from which we rightfully get the word gaudy) and Montserrat, a monastery on top of a high mountain cliff with stunning views, after which the Caribbean Island is named. Then our two week cruise came to an end and the real adventure began. We no longer had big brother Walt protecting us in the wide, wide world of Europe. We were on our own!

Modern Day Cuba

 

Juanita Baker

Do we know what is really going on inside Cuba? Fidel Castro is made out to be our enemy and a threat to our democracy...how true is that? Is our current policy of isolation and embargo helping to remove this dictator? Hardly, as he must be the longest remaining leader in the world. How does he treat his people? Why are they coming by rafts to the shores of Florida? What do humans risk their lives for?

It is important for Americans to travel abroad and get their own view of the world. Since Cuba has few American tourists, all Americans act as ambassadors wherever they go. In March, 2007 we jumped at the opportunity to go to Cuba flying from Miami legally as representatives under the humanitarian license of the Key West Tropical Gardens whose tropical rain forest, the only one in the US, has similar ecological issues to the tropical gardens in Cuba and has birds blown from Cuba visiting. Birding and visiting a variety of habitats in the Eastern half of Cuba was our goal. There are about 26 endemic species and we saw a good number of them...the rarest, the Zapata swamp sparrow; the smallest frog, Eleutherodactylus iberia; the tiniest bird in the world, the bumblebee hummingbird; the most interesting tail, the Cuban Trogan. What did amaze us about Cuba was its grandeur with the classical Spanish influence, art and architecture, and the highly developed modern Cuban art. With little visible military and colorful, happy people, it is unlike any other communist country we've visited, yet similar in austerity.

A PBS special, "Victory is Your Duty," on Cuba and its boxing academy, remarked, "Forty-eight years after its Socialist revolution, Cuba appears to have progressed little." It is important for us here in the US to discuss what is "progress?" Are we only talking about rising individual incomes so we can spend building bigger homes, malls, and filling stores with consumable goods? Since Florida has such a rapid influx of people and paradise is being paved over rapidly here as well as overpopulation is pressuring global warming and earth degradation, the question is particularly relevant. Or are we talking about other values too? Education, health, welfare of all our people, potable, sufficient water, nutritious uncontaminated foods available, safety, reducing child abuse and crime, equal opportunity, happiness? What will enhance our quality of life? Can we personally buy a better quality of life, or does it require community working together to make life better for us all, thereby enhancing our individual quality?

Living under an U.S. embargo for many years, one marvels at how Cubans continue to exist. They do it with ingenuity and inventiveness. They have, out of necessity, the world's best sustainable agriculture system, using very little pesticides and chemical fertilizers, wisely using their water resources, which is rationed over much of Cuba. Since sugar is not in demand or subsidized, the Cubans have diversified their crops to provide their own food for their citizens. Something we are doing less and less. Most of the people are very poor but healthy by our standards, with universal free health care. Life expectancy average is now longer than ours. Children appear nutritionally well fed and cared for, yet no obesity. They even export their doctors to places of need in Africa, Venezuela, and Asia. Remember Castro's offer to send health teams to New Orleans after Katrina?

We saw very few bicycles, trucks, cars on vacant rural, paved roads. All citizens have homes that are electrified, have running water (at least 3 days/week), schools in all areas, are free, even University and medical school. However, students may be sent to residential schools to work part time to contribute to their education. Most Cuban front porches are shiny clean, on streets with no litter. Art as well as music is valued, even protest art against the government. The Cubans are open, curious, wanting to please and hope relations with the US will open. They cannot understand how the US harbors and encourages terrorists (Posada) against Cuba yet have a "war on terror." Strapped for foreign funds, the Cubans promote tourism--we were provided with great accommodations, food, entertainment, birding, scenery transportation, and music. We were amazed that there are no taxes. For the government to have money, they must earn it. We were surprised that even the army competes with another department of the government running a hotel and trying to attract tourists to their hotel instead of going to the other department’s!

Since 1994 when their dependence upon Russia was severed, tourism has been allowed and there are 121 much regulated private businesses that are now permitted such as having a restaurant in your home (but it must be limited to 14 people at any one time), having a bed and breakfast in your home, arts and crafts, playing music, having a taxi, tailors, vegetable sellers if your own home and surrounding land is used. As a result, we were even told about Cuba’s “first millionaire.” So apparently there is an under-the-table economy. Evidently US missionaries do not have problems obtaining US permission to go to Cuba and their religious efforts are not restricted by Cubans.

Cuba is isolated, quite ignorant of basic realities and updated science and technology. Why do people come over in rafts risking their lives? Economic opportunity they say, not democracy, as we were told they do vote for officials (except the major leaders), only 5 known persons are political prisoners, the people we talked to did not know of anyone in jail, and they are free to dissent (we saw a demonstration, yet there are only 3 public TV stations, Radio from US is blocked; one newspaper), They say they do have a large CD smuggling trade and other deals go on “under the table.” Doctors and a few people have access to internet, although the public is restricted. We met a lawyer who was working at the hotel because there was opportunity to earn tourist dollars, which allows them to buy many more goods available in the “Foreign Peso” stores, have a higher standard of living.

Although everyone is literate, it was difficult finding any books printed for children available in the local Cuban peso stores, goods being limited in general. So people leave for the future use of their skills and talents in more profitable ways. People do not seem to be afraid of their government or the police, though a comment was made, “Castro’s brother Raul is the kind one.” Whether that is hope or fact and what the implications are we did not learn. They claim that with CIA encouragement, there have been 385 attempts on Castro’s life (perhaps they could not believe the 683 attempts the Guardian article from UK had counted, but they also included abortive attempts. They seem to have the same meager information about Castro and the future as we do. If the US opened trade freely, information would flow more freely. It would appear that, similar to China, Cuba would also begin to further relax restrictions on private enterprise. When that begins, it is hard to hold back or block information about democracy and freedom. The Cubans are highly educated and would be able to more rationally and likely to think things through. Opening relations with Cuba seems to be a much more likely way to bring about real change with safety and high ideals than our old(?) policy of assassination and current one of military force...and maybe we can learn something from Cubans, if we are open.