Newlywed couple from Yemen

Fourteen hours at Dubai Airport, not four! Oops.  Arrived at 10 pm and departed at Noon the following day. Just crazy enough of a schedule that there was not the time or daylight to take a tour of Dubai.  This was my second trip via Dubai that I did not have he opportunity to leave the airport with enough time to return to airport and make it through all of the security points.  I flew Emerites from NYC to Dubai and then Fly Dubai from Dubai to Kathmandu.  Fly Dubai is the economic airline for the Arab nation.  Emerites is something else.  Beautiful flight attendants speaking 30 languages with a choice menu.

I finally made it to Terminal 2 which is the exclusive terminal for Fly Dubai.  I found a wall at the far end of the airport to sleep and just a few minutes after I made myself comfortable a young couple joined me on the seats right next to my sleeping spot. They were clearly in love and enjoying each other. The young man started talking to me. We ended up talking for much of our stay. 

He and his wife had just married. They are from Yemen.  He is 22 and she is just 18, yes just 18.  They were heading to Pakistan where he is studying to be a doctor.  He speaks many languages, Arabic, English, 2 languages from Pakistan and is learning Japanese which is where he would like

to continue his studies. He learned English in 3 months. He was at the top of his high school class and was offered a full scholarship to study medicine in Pakistan.  

He has been waiting for Ather's hand in marriage for years. They  grew up together as she is his cousin. She lost her mother when she was young and has taken care of her younger brothers for years. She has 2 older brothers and 2 younger brothers. Now Murad's Mom will take care of Alther's younger brothers while she joins her husband in Pakistan.  

Murad said that Yemeni need to pay $6000.00 for a visa to visit Dubai because they have always been workers in Dubai. Now Yemen charges those from UAE the same though few from UAE visit Yemen. Murad said it would be too dangerous for me to visit Yemen as an American.  He showed me videos of the revolution there, the countryside, his home. My goodness it is beautiful. He hopes to become a doctor and work in his country to help his people receive needed health care.  

His father is a police man and his brother is a pilot for the army.  Both of them give 50% of their wages to help the poor as there is so much need for assistance.  They all live in a family compound with three generations of family and cousins. His mother also takes care of his cow and goats.

The Taliban often kill civilians for no reason. And now that the army has split and there are 2 groups fighting each other often civilians are caught in the middle. 

I cannot figure out how to upload a photo of them....will do soon.

Some day when Murad is a doctor in Yemen wouldn't it be something to put together a team of medical professionals to go to his country.  This young man is 22 and has so many plans and dreams and dedication to his people. I was in awe of his strength, commitment, life experience and knowledge at such a young age.  

I hope to send the newlyweds a Taste of Maine when I get home to congratulate them!

New Zealand or bust January 2012

Greetings or Kia Ora from glorious New Zealand with my hosts Darren, Jade(10) and Caleb (8). This winter I decided to journey to New Zealand for a few months. A destination that has been on my bucket list for almost twenty years but mostly because I had a good friend who lived here who promised to welcome me if ever I came. I have not seen Darren in 18 years since his month long stay with me in Boston. We were flat mates in London for a few years in the early 1990s. He has been a school teacher for 12 years and is currently a middle school teacher in the quaint dairy farming community of Te Aroha which is Maori for "the mountain we love" and he is also the loving father of two wonderful children.

Well my journey was long. New Zealand does not require a visa, however in hindsight I should have gotten a working visa which also would have cost me nothing for 3 months. Anyway ce la vais. After Christmas I travelled from Maine to Boston by car and from Boston to NYC by bus (Megabus.com rocks) and then NYC to LA and then LA to Aukland with American Airlines. I spent a few days visiting friends in Boston (Nathalie took me to Q, a hot pot restaurant in Chinatown that is TO DIE FOR) and in NYC visited with folks now friends we have hosted at Kendall Farm Cottages and my first Peace Corps roomie, Liz who is doing amazing things in Ghana through Columbia Teachers College and even visited TiGeorge's Haitian Cafe in Los Angeles. The flight from LA to Aukland was an arduous 13 hours. I did watch the movie, The Help which was quite a film. We crossed the dateline in the air. New Zealand is the first country in the world to see the beginning of a new day. New Zealand is 18 hours ahead of EST in good ol' Maine so it took me a few days and my body a week to adjust to the changes. I made sure to walk around the plane every few hours but when I arrived at Darren's house 15 hours after departing LA my ankles were swollen. Oh ah ah the excitement of now being in my 40s. Darren's Mom is going to give me some leggings to wear on my way home. Apparently many NZers wear these because for them to go anywhere requires hours in the air and these leggings really help.

It is now summer in New Zealand so the temperatures are 80F - 100F. Darren is off from work for the Christmas school holiday which we timed perfectly with my visit. Currently plums-red, yellow, purple, kiwis green and golden and avocados are in season. I hope to be here for the passion fruit which is one of my all time favorite tropical fruits. New Zealand is LUSH, LUSH, LUSH with mountains, beaches, farmland, small communities, geothermal activity, weird and wild critters and some of the best diving in the world!

New Zealand is made up of two islands which together are the lengthish of Maine to Florida. However you are only really ever 40 minutes from the ocean from anywhere on the islands which is amazing! The population is only 4.5 million for the entire country and last night I learned that Aukland has 1.4 million residents of the 4 million and 30% of that population is Asian. There are lots of immigrants from the South Pacific islands and more and more from EurAsia. The minimum wage here is $12.75/hour, a gallon of gas is $10.00. One-third of the world's milk production comes from New Zealand and the cost is approximately $3.00 for 1/2 gallon. Food prices have jumped 200% in the past 2 years. The bungy jump was invented here in Queenstown so I might have to go and check it out!

Maoris, the native people of this island nation have their own TV channel in their language, their own schools, retain ownership of much of their land however keep it open to the public to explore and appreciate and most names of towns, mountains, rivers are in Maori as are the plant names. Sadly on the first day of Parliment of the New Year the Maori Party was a no show. The Maoris have so many legends and stories about the earth, environment and people. Darren and his kids tell me folklore on a regular basis which is wonderful. Certainly teaching kids these stories while they grow and develop in school helps them appreciate each other's cultures. The culture and language is taught in all schools nationally. It is quite fascinating. The Maori people, men and women are generally extremely tall with large builds and lots of tattoos on their arms, upper bodies and faces as well. No wonder the All Blacks rugby team looks so powerful with their warrior stances and incredibly enormous builds. Yes oh yes The All Blacks won the Rugby World Cup. New Zealanders believe that American football is woosie with all of their protective equipment. Rugby has hard tackling as well and no gear. But I am still making Darren and his son Caleb watch the Super Bowl with me in February!

Diahrrea and This Blog Thang and Cockroaches

Dear Friends, I am embarrassed to admit that I just figured out HOW to read comments on my blog. Thank you so much. Today I am homebound at Jan´s because I cannot stop going to the bathroom and I cannot stop sneezing. Apprently DR is windy mid Jan through mid March so here we are. Yesterday I ate WAY TOO much papaya and I know better. It makes you go to the bathroom. Something about traveling is that you end up talking about bowel movements more than ever. When we were in Peace Corps that was always the topic of conversation. Going too much or not going at all. I have stomach cramps today. Huge ones. Though Ive never had a child Im imagining that they are like contractions early on. Ouch!
Jan´s son, Louis Filipe invited me to go swimming with him later today at .......a pool! Imagine living on an island that you can cross in 5 hours and going to a pool. These city folks are funny.

It is true. We never appreciate what is RIGHT in front of us. So...tonight think about all the wonderful things in your life, where you live and GO SEE THEM AND DO THOSE THINGS. I met several individuals who had never gone to see the bioluminescent bays and there are 3 of them in Puerto Rico out of 10 in the whole world. Imagine! I cannot.

I am happy I go to Grand Manan every summer and take time to smell the lilacs at my house and sit on my deck and drink beer. I do live in Perrydise that is for sure.

So yesterday we went to a HUGE supermarket called a supermarcardo and it even has an escalator to go to the rest of a huge department store....well there were cockroaches crawling all over the packaging on the bread. When I lived in S. Africa I got so skinny for such a long time because the cockroaches were crawling over everything even in our fridge! I ate tinned meat and that was it. I couldnt handle it. I think yesterday I realized again about THE TROPICS. Creepy crawlies everywhere. They wont hurt us really but .........it can be a bit overwhelming at times.

Take care and .......in a few days I will be off to Bayahibe on the southeast coast to do some diving. Supposedly the best in the country with clear and very warm waters, may only need to wear a shortie which would be terrific. My mom comes Feb. 14 and will be with me the rest of the trip through Mar. 11. Very exciting indeed. The Caribbean Isles are MUCH more expensive to travel than Mexico, central and south Americas so....better with2 people.

Santa Domingo

Dear All,
I am enjoying this family I am staying with. Last night I stayed up late with Jan´s husband, Filipe and we watched this film called Zeitgeist. Follow the link below and you can watch it and/or download it. It is better than the film Corporation. I believe much of it and know that because of such issues in our society my head and heart are often in turmoil.

http://www.zeitgeistmovie.com/

I would love to go to this event on March 15 in NYC and may do so since I am in Boston on March 11 but we will see.

Let´s see updates in a nutshell
...did laundry for the first time in 3 weeks. (I have 3 pairs of underwear and wash them out but the rest was really really dirty.
...helped Jan wash two dogs and managed not to get bitten.
...went to a little stand near the grocery store and bought guarapo which is sugar cane juice.
Mom and I first had it in Cuba. It is THE most deliciously refreshing drink Ive ever had. I love it with limon (lime) over ice or...of course with a little rum
...visited Filipe´s 3 star hotel, Hotel Caribeño, in DOWNTOWN Santa Domingo. Wow, you walk out the store and you are in THE middle of the trade center of Santa Domingo. Fruit, clothes, shoes shoes SHOES. I bought 2 piñas (pineapples) for 20 pesos OR 70 cents, small ones.
...went to see the fort and the cathedral in Santa Domingo and bought limons and a few souveniers for home.
...tonight or tomorrow I hope to upload some photos to this for ya´ll to enjoy!
Take care, Georgie