Southampton!! Around the World!!

I can't believe it, I've done it! Around the world by sea. I think this requires some stats-

-106 nights
-more than 37500 miles covered
-65 sea days
-37 ports
-23 countries
-sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge
-world's tallest building ascended, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai
-top of the Rockafellar Center
-Sydney Harbor Bridge climbed
-Luxor and the Valley of the Kings visited
- seen the Library of Alexandria
- added my 6th continent with South America
-transit of the Panama and the Suez Canals
-Hong Kong Disneyland
-One amazing World Voyage!
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Lisbon and last days

Lisbon, Portugal, was our last port of call on the World Voyage before Southampton. I've been here before, its a really neat city. We didn't really do much today, since we had a long crew boat drill in the morning. We wandered lazily to a restaurant not 10 minutes walk from the ship, where we had a good meal, a nice view of the harbor, and free wifi. Who could ask for more? Our restaurant was nearly right underneath the big April 25 bridge.

The last few days have had a lot of action. Firstly, our Bandmaster Tim had to leave the ship for a week or so to deal with some medical issues, so our pianist Dusty took over, and the schedules were altered quite a bit.

Secondly we had Sir David Frost on board. He is a British T.V. Presenter most famous for interviewing Nixon in 1977, and getting the first semblance of a confession and apology from him to the American people. He gave a couple of lectures, answered questions, and did a live intro to the great film on the topic, Frost/Nixon, that was released recently. I got his autograph. :-) The whole ship was abuzz about his being here. I found it really interesting to hear him speak, he has so many great and funny stories.

Thirdly we had some pretty rough weather coming into the Bay of Biscay, and the hydraulic lifts were damaged in the theatre pit from something falling over, and they are now totally on the fritz. This is going to cost money and cause blame to be cast around, which stresses Nick and the whole theatre crew out quite a bit, as well as requiring some creative reblocking for the shows. But everyone is handling it well.
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Civitavecchia (Rome) Italy

Well, we got very lucky in Civitavecchia with some great weather.  It was cold in the shade, but the sun was shining and the skies were blue.  Today we loved ourselves some Italian pizza, I shopped the local outdoor market and found a beautiful new wallet (much needed), and had coffee in three different places.  Nothing like espresso in Italy!!  

It always feels a bit nostalgic to me to come back here, as this was the place where I joined my very first ship, the Celebrity Galaxy, nearly 5 years ago.  Yes, that 5 is a little scary.  I still remember so clearly being driven down the pier in the little Mercedes and its cheaffeur that had picked me up from the airport.  I remember my first sight of the ship and how my jaw dropped at how big it was.  How my head was reeling at the thought that I was actually going to work there, and live there for 6 months, where I knew not a soul.  How I was completely terrified, and convinced they were going to hear me play two notes and send me packing, that I wouldn't be good enough to do the job.  How I had to do an improv solo that first night in the theatre, with a spotlight on me.  How I couldn't find the crew mess on my own so missed a lot of meals my first few days. How after a week I was moved rooms to meet my first wonderful roommate and great friend, the passionate French Canadian sax player Marie.  Yet that all seems like a very very long time ago.  

Today I am here, on a ship that didn't even exist yet when I first went to sea, working for a company that I was already fantasizing about someday being able to proudly say I worked for.  In a few days I will complete my first world voyage, an itinerary I never thought I'd be able to get ahold of.  Its all still a bit unbelievable. Coming back to Civi always feels like coming full circle.  And I know I'm not done yet.  Thanks, God, it has been amazing ride!!

Almost Not Piraeus, Greece

We very nearly skipped this port altogether.  There was a storm blowing itself out during the morning, and the wind was making it too dangerous to navigate into the very narrow harbor.  We sat outside the port until the authorities reopened it and allowed us to dock by about 12pm (we were meant to dock at 7am).  We musicians (and many other departments) had an alternate schedule standing by in case we weren't able to get in at all and it became a sea day.  We did finally get in, luckily, with the help of two tugboats keeping us from being shifted by the wind.  Said tugboats had to stay in position for the next 10 hours, just to keep us pushed up against the pier.  Our forward and aft thrusters were also working the entire time, just to keep us in place.  The tugboats and fuel expended just to make sure the guests got out to see the Acropolis and back cost us nearly $200,000 dollars extra today.  I hope they appreciate it!! In hindsight I'm not sure the captain would have made the same decision.  As it was we had two of our very heavy-duty mooring lines snap, which in itself is an extremely dangerous occurrence due to the huge amount of tension in the rope as it snaps.  Our gangways were shifting back and forth and up and down all day, and boarding had to be paused several times to ensure they were secure.  

All aboard was 6pm, but because of the high winds we couldn't attempt to leave the port at that time.  Everyone was on board, but we weren't going anywhere.  We got our window to leave around 10pm, and made the most of it.  Unfortunately, this was after we had already suffered through a full rehearsal and two shows in the theatre, which loudly shakes like a very bad washing machine whenever the thrusters are on.  Usually this is timed so it doesn't affect us, but in this unusual circumstance where it was ongoing, we just had to live through it.  It is very difficult to hear and concentrate and perform well in those conditions, but we managed somehow.  Nevertheless, we were extremely grateful during the day to be able to get off the ship in Piraeus, and made the most of our few hours ashore before rehearsal.  We walked a bit and had some fantastic Greek food, grabbed a coffee, and did some quick grocery shopping before our time was up.  

Since we left so late from Piraeus, we had to change our itinerary around a bit.  We had already planned on running full speed to get to our next port on time, so with the delay there was no making up that time.  An extra sea day was built in to reach it, and the port of Monte Carlo has been cancelled.  Monte Carlo is beautiful, but it is a tender port for us, which means that the likely recurrence of wind would make it impossible to operate the tenders anyway, so I think the Captain made a good decision to cut our losses and give the guests their full day in Rome.  Well, we can't control the weather!!

Alexandria, Egypt

Since I have twice made the 3 hour trek out to Cairo and the Pyramids, I felt free this time to stay local and do a tour of Alexandria itself, which has an incredible amount of history of its own. I got very lucky to get one of the two buses on the longest "Alexandria in a Day" tour, which covers all the biggest sights.

We started with a tour of the Montazah Gardens, a bit of a huge public park complex, where a nice hotel and the former Palace of King Farouk are located. It is a favorite spot for Egyptian families to visit and picnic, and as today was a public holiday (Easter), they were flocking to it in droves. We were there early in the morning so we avoided the worat of it, though we witnessed it already filling up.

Next was my favorite part (no, not lunch), the Library of Alexandria. It is a fairly modern building, built in a unique style by Norwegian architects. There is a massive, open, multi-level reading room, which can seat over 2000 readers at once. Its really incredible. The complex itself also includes several museums and a planetarium. We visited a couple of the exhibits.

After our lunch, we stopped at the Roman auditorium ruins and the Catacombs at Shawkafa. An hour was spent at the National Museum, where the highlight was some artifacts from the sunken Palace of Cleopatra, which is under Alexandria's harbor. We fought our way through heavy vehicular, equestrian, and pedestrian traffic to see the Fort which now stands on the point where the lighthouse of Alexandria once stood, one of the original 7 wonders of the world.

Our ship was the first of the season, they haven't had any since October or November last year. As such, there was a lot of interest in us throughout the day. People were asking to take pictures of and with us, for quite the role reversal. They waved at us all day.
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Suez Canal

Today I got to transit through the second of the world's major canals. The Suez Canal belongs to Egypt, so they are the ones receiving the revenue generated by the transit fees. I went up on a crew are on deck 12 to watch our transit for a couple of hours. The western side of the canal is very green and inhabited, whereas the eastern side is desolate, just dirt and sand and desert. We went under a neat bridge at one point. People along the sides were waving at us, and there were even little fishing boats we passed along the way. There weren't locks like in the Panama Canal. The horizons are flat, where in Panama they are hilly and covered with jungle. And here's some useless trivia - the Statue of Liberty was originally intended and created to stand at the mediterranean entrance to the canal, as a functioning lighthouse. Somehow funding didn't come through and instead the French gave is to us instead. Also, revenue from the bridge used to be second only to tourism on Egypt's GDP, but tourism has dropped by 80% over the last year due to all the political unrest there, putting the canal in first place as the main moneymaker. I saw some soldiers at small guardhouses at various point along the canal. Another amazing difference between this canal and Panama was the weather. In Suez the air is drier, but we changed from a warm still afternoon to a chill wind a very noticeable drop in temperature as soon as we neared the Mediterranean exit. The shift in region was amazingly tangible. Next time I'll drag myself early (5am) to see what the entrance is like, but I needed some recovery sleep this morning. Also, Nick and I both helped out with the Captain's Maritime service this Sunday morning, so that took precedence. We both did scripture readings. It was a really nice day. I can check off both canals now!!
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Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

This is perhaps Egypt's most commercial port, hugely popular for tourists. It has all the recognizeable western restaurants, lots of beach hotels, and a big night life.

Jane and I took a taxi into town after a bit of drama with the taxi drivers (very common in Egypt). Our driver offered to take us for $10, the others were angry at him, because he undercut them and he was actually nearer the back of the taxi line. Lots of yelling and physical aggression, which we had to push through. But it sure beat being ripped off for $50 to drive 10 minutes.

We walked around the beach town for a while and soaked in the atmosphere. We saw many outdoor bedouin-style restaurants and Hasish bars, where you sat on cushions on the ground. It was obviously much too hot for anyone to sit out there in the heat of the day, but I could easily imagine them all coming to life at night. We took it a bit easy today, and just grabbed some lunch and used some wifi. It was nice to have a less intense today to recover a bit. Our legs are all sore from our hiking in Petra yesterday, and were glad to slow things down a bit.
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Aqaba, Jordan

This is a day all the crew have been looking forward to, for their chance to take the much anticipated crew tour to the Lost City of Petra. Our ship docked in Aqaba, which is at the very tip of the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea, and is a duty-free port city. As such, when you leave the borders of the city, you must pass through customs. There is going to be a great reason to visit Aqaba, as, unbelievably, a multi billion dollar Star Trek theme park will be openingin 2014. Apparently the King of Jordan is a Trekkie, and Jordan is about 30 years behind the US in terms of television entertainment. There will be rides, theatre shows, five and six star resorts, the works. Its already well under construction. So we are all going, right???

We left Aqaba and drove about an hour and a half to reach the entrance to Petra, which is located on the base of the slope of Mount Hor, where Aaron of the Old Testament is buried. His tomb is marked by a white monument we could see from the bus. Petra, (Greek: stone) is a city literally cut out of the rock cliffs, the capital city of the Nabateans, established in the 6th century. Many of the famous facades are actually entrances to tombs. Since many of the buildings were carved straight out of stone, they have survived to this day, though many have suffered erosion. It is a huge complex, truly staggering in size. To reach the city from the ticket gate (tickets cost about $70 now) you must walk about half an hour, or alternately pay for a horse drawn carraige, donkey or horse ride. We walked. 20 minutes of the trek takes place in a narrow winding passage between colorful sandstone cliffs, known as the Siq. Suddenly around a corner the Treasury (Al Khazneh) comes into view. You may recognize it as the supposed entrance to the resting place of the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones and the last crusade. It is huge and stunning, and literally just appears in front of you as you come around a twist in the passageway. That moment is unforgettable for anyone who experiences it. (Mom, I'm reminded of when you first saw the statue of David in Florence)

From the Treasury, we spent about an hour and a half trekking all over the valley, seeing as much as we possibly could before reluctantly hurrying back to the bus. The only thing we couldn't get to was the famous Monastery, at the very far end of the valley, which would have been about a 3 hour walk roundtrip from the treasury. We'll have to save that for next time. Another thing to put on this always semi-hypothetical 'next time' list, is an overnight visit to Wadi Rum (Valley of the Moon, nothing to do with rum, Mom, sorry), the famously beautiful desert area where you can stay with Bedoiuns and experience the desert by night and witness one of the world's most spectacular sunsets. So a full vacation is starting to take shape here - who's in for Jordan 2014??? Aqaba, Petra, Wadi Rum, Sinai, and of course, Star Trek Theme Park!!
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Safaga, Egypt

Safaga is a port on the east coast of Egypt, on the Red Sea. From here I joined one of the guest tours for the long journey into Luxor. It took us about 4 hours to reach our first destination - the Valley of the Kings. This is a desert location where many royal and noble tombs are located, most famously the tomb of King Tutankhamun. The desert was chosen at some distance from the Nile to avoid any humidity and protect the mummies from degrading - how smart were they?? I learned that the fame of King Tut comes from his tomb being found "intact" (though in fact it had already been broken into very early on, but the thieves weren't interested in the gold and left it, they took some rarer oils), and isn't in itself as impressive as the Royal tombs, since his death was unexpected and a nobleman's tomb had to be converted quickly. I went up to the entrance and had a peep inside, but didn't pay the extra $20 necessary to go inside. Instead I used my time to visit the three tombs our guide recommended, of Ramses III, IV, and IX. These Royal tombs were way more than I was expecting. The walls and ceilings are covered in hieroglyphics, and they are all in stunning colour! The colours are what most surprised me, I always imagined hieroglyphics as being carved into dull stone. There are bright yellows, reds, blues, greens....it all has the feel that the artist just walked out of the room. Apparently the colours have been brought to light through a restoration treatment, not added on by the restorers. The result is breathtaking. Even the ceilings are painted in blues, with stars and scenes of the heavens. We had three tomb entrances included in our ticket, and there was just enough time to visit these. I wanted more time there...as usual...if I ever go back I'll cough up the extra $20 to say I've been inside King Tut's tomb. Apparently he's still in there. But for now right outside will have to be close enough.

After we left the valley we made two photo stops, one at the Colossi of Memnon (two great stone statues which guarded the entry to a tomb) and the Temple of Luxor. Then we moved swiftly on to our next big attraction - the Temple of Karnak. Now this was something I hadn't really heard of and didn't know what to expect. Again, I was blown away...it's a huge temple complex, with rows of sphinx lining the entrance, a gallery of immense pillars covered in hieroglyphics, a sacred lake, several obelisks, and statues everywhere. Apparently a scene from James Bond "The spy who loved me" was filmed here, I've made a mental note to check it out. We had plenty of free time here, of which I used every last second, wandering around with my mouth open, giving my camera a workout. The place is really incredible, I feel so lucky I had the chance to go.

A special mention to the Steigenberger Hotel in the town of Luxor where we had lunch - it was an amazing meal!! I was stuffed enough not to get hungry on the three hour drive back to Safaga. Thanks!

I also need to mention the less showy but just as engrossing sightseeing that happened on our coach as we drove most of the day. We passed many many small villages along canals of the Nile, where life is still lived much as it was thousands of years ago. The men and boys all wear long tunics to the ground, ride donkeys and pull their wares along in carts. Sugarcane is a big export here, and many farmers were in the process of bringing their wares to the train to send them north to Cairo, Alexandria and beyond. Later in the evening I noticed men and young boys relaxing on curbs chewing on leftover bits of sugarcane stalks. Some of the roofs in the villages are still made of straw, and the walls of mud and mudbrick. The people were so friendly - very excited to stop what they were doing and wave at us as we passed by.

Some of the locals do have cars, in the larger villages and especially in Qena and Luxor. But these were lined up for blocks in order to get gas - there is a fear at the moment that fuel will run out so people are stocking up and filling up at every opportunity. There were literally a hundred cars in line at every station, waiting for hours for their turn, along with motorcycles and even police cars. It was a pretty crazy sight every time we passed a station. You would know one was coming up based on the line of cars beginning on the side of the road. Glad we weren't in one of those lines!

Anyway I know this post is long, I'm just still reeling a bit from another amazing experience in Egypt!
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Piracy and April Fools on the QE.

Today is day 88 of our World Voyage, which is pretty hard to believe. For the past week or so, we have been in transit through the area known for high piracy activity over the past several years. As such we have some extra security measures is place, just to make sure we don't become a victim. Our open decks are closed from sunset to sunrise, so no crew or guests are allowed outside during those times. At sunset all outer lighting is lowered on the ship, as well as windows and portholes being covered with black sheets to prevent light from escaping. We have a Royal Navy liason officer with us to provide extra intelligence and pull with peacekeeping forces should we require assistance. We also have three armed guards just for this section of the voyage, though the weapons themselves are kept on the bridge unless the are required. We have rigged water hoses, of all things, with high pressure capabilities, to use on anyone attempting to board. We also keep a speed constantly above 18 knots, making us a very difficult target. No ship has yet been targeted that has kept above that speed. All of us crew were put through a special drill and training in case an incident should occur. We all feel very safe here, especially because of all the measures in place to prevent an attack from even being considered.

We were given a memo by Tim requiring us to attend weapons trainign, where we would be briefed in the basics of firearms. This turned out to be an April Fools joke. I caught on right away and didn't bother to go to the training, but Tim was there to laugh at more than half the ship musicians who did. The captain also had a little April Fool's joke - he had printed in the program and made a very serious announcement that the ship was running low on fuel and might run out somewhere in these pirate waters....but we do have special converters that can run on all sorts of different products that have chemicals which can be harnessed. If every guest could donate a squirt of sunscreen, that would provide the necessary fuel to get us to Mumbai on time. They put a huge canister for collection in the lobby, and guests were flocking to donate their suncream. Some gave whole tubes. Some brought their specific brand to my friend Martin at the purser's desk, who made a big show of reading the ingredients and pronouncing it fit to be donated and a possible fuel source. What a ball they had....a few guests were a bit upset when they discovered it was a joke. These are probably the ones who are walking around sunburned.
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Muscat, Oman

Wow! I must admit, I was completely taken by surprise by how much I liked this place. Having absolutely no idea what to expect, I was amazed at how much character it had. Muscat is the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, a country of about two and a half million people that makes about 80% of its income from rich oil resources. It is indeed run by a Sultan, from the royal line of Oman. We were asked to wear pants below the knees and avoid public displays of affection out of respect for the largely Islamic religious sensitivities.

My tour was a general overview of the capital. It was really hot and dry, a very desert feeling, but with lots of sharp rocky hills surrounding the white and other very light-colored buildings, all of which had a distinctly Arabian character, though at times reminding me in color and setting of a Mexican pueblo. As a location, it really stood out to me among many places that can begin to look similar to each other. Muscat has a true uniqueness. We visited a museum which I really liked, learning about the traditional clothing and weapons of the Omani. We saw the Sultan's palace, the Grand Mosque (which holds 20,000 people), and explored a Souk, which is like a marketplace with vendors along narrow covered alleyways. The air smelled like frankincense since they were selling it and burning some in the different stalls.

After my tour was over I went back out with Yuri. We did some more shopping and had time for a quick snack before heading back to the ship. I had a falafel pita, and both of us tried the traditional Omani coffee, laced with spices. Very different. I bought a few souvenirs, including something that looks very much like Aladdin's lamp. However, no genies have appeared as of yet.
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Dubai, United Arab Emirates

I have been looking forward to this port for quite a while! It is definitely one of the highlights of the world voyage as far as I'm concerned. I got off the ship around 8am with Jane and Ed, we had booked ourselves in advance on the "At the Top" experience - taking an elevator to the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. We just barely managed to book our slots before they sold out, about a week in advance. It was a magnificent view of the city from the top.

After the Burj Khalifa, we explored a few of the sights - the Dubai Mall with its huge aquarium and impressive atrium waterfalls, the Palm with the Atlantic Resort at the end of it (an entirely manmade formation of beachfront property in the shape of a palm tree on the ocean - amazing!), the Burj al Arab hotel, and the Mall of the Emirates, with its indoor ski slope and winter wonderland. We took taxis everywhere this time, and split the fare, it was pretty reasonable. Our goal was to see as much as possible - pretty difficult to accomplish in a few hours.

Stepping off the ship in Dubai is like stepping into the future. Everything is so modern, clean, glitzy, open, civilized. I was really impressed. Every store and restaurant we know in the states can be found there, plus all the best of Asia, Europe, and the world, really. Having been there I would now feel really comfortable living and working there as so many musicians so in the many fancy hotels. It was hot though. Hot and the dryest I've experienced since Australia a couple months ago. But what a place!!
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Mumbai, India

My second port in India, I discovered that the city of Mumbai is actually an island, something I didn't know before. Predictably, I took another highlights tour to get an idea of the city. We went up to the Hanging Gardens, which overlooks the city, and it basically a big park that has been landscaped on top of a roof. We got to tour Ghandi's house, where he stayed in Mumbai for quite a number of years. There is a memorial to him there now. I really enjoyed that visit. We got to see some other landmarks like the Gateway to India, and visted a temple dedicated to Krishna. I met a young monk who is actually originally from Canada, I wonder how he came to be there. He must have quite a story.

We visited a museum, the most interesting thing to me was a huge stone elephant that was salvaged from some ancient caves in India. It ended up at the museum because the British had at one point attempted to take it back to England with them (when you see the size and weight you realize how ludicrous and arrogant this seems), and the crane broke and dropped it to the ground. The broken pieces were left in India, but later reassembled. It was neat to see.

After my tour I met up with Yuri, and we went back into Mumbai, haggling with several cab drivers before finding one who wouldn't rip us off. We went to a very nice restaurant called Khyber, where we met up with an old friend, Chiara. She was the harpist here last year, and she is now doing very very well for herself playing for weddings in Mumbai. We caught up with her over lunch - she makes more in a month playing for 2 or 3 gigs than she did here on the ship working every day. Of course we are all jealous....a gig on land is the stuff of dreams for cruise ship musicians. :-) after lunch we walked around and shopped on our own, soaking up the sights and sounds of India. After days of admiring the women in their Saris, I decided to buy one. It is beautiful! If only I can figure out how to put it on....the ladies in the shop made it look so easy!

India is full of very rich and very poor, and the poverty is hard to see. Just knowing the sheer amount of people who are below the poverty line is daunting. I know just spending my money there helps a little, but so much more is needed to raise the standards of living for so many people. Yet it is such a vibrant, exciting places. The colors and smells of spices and amazing food (vegetable cashew cream curry and fresh warm naan bread!!) Are incredible. I would love to come here again.
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Cochin, India

Welcome to India! I was really looking forward to visiting this country, and I wasn't disappointed. It is such a colorful place. I went on a "Best of Cochin" tour. We started out by taking a boat cruise around the harbour, and got to sail by the Chinese fishing nets, which we later visited on foot. These were the most incredible thing we saw during the day. They are absolutely huge wooden counterweight mechanisms that lower giant nets into the water and then raise them back out again, and are operated entirely by hand with no machinery. They are amazing to watch in action, though I'm finding the sight rather difficult to describe. After our cruise, we walked through the former Jewish Town, which is now a spice market. We visited a museum nearby, then had a snack and beverage at a nice beach hotel. On the way to another museum (focusing on the Portuguese influence in India), we happened by a field where school kids were practicing their cricket skills on an open field. It was fun to watch and get a little glimpse into their culture. It was second only to seeing the Nets in action. So many times on tours I feel we see the "sights" but miss the experience, which is why I always love it when you get to see something truly local.
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Colombo, Sri Lanka

Another new country for me! I went on a tour in the morning - "Colombo Highlights." We first drove through the poor but vibrant parts of the city, with colorful markets and ladies in Saris all around. We saw the old clocktower near the harbor, a temple, and many british colonial style building from the time Britain occupied the area. The locals get around on cars, motorcycles, public buses, and trishaws, also generally known to us as tuk-tuks, small open air motorcarts with one wheel in front and two behind, ideal for quick manouevering through heavy motor and pedestrian traffic through the narrow streets and alleys. We saw 'slave island' - where in olden times the slaves were kept at night on an island in a local lake. We visited Independance square where monuments were erected 60 or so years ago to celebrate Sri Lanka's independance. By the way, ever heard of Ceylon tea?? It is from Sri Lanka, which was known by the name Ceylon until the year 1972.

My favorite moment of the day was an unexpected treat of a look into truly local culture. As we drove along a street, we started to pass teenage boys dressed in black and gold, waving matching banners and riding on top of trucks and cars. It was a local cricket team, creating excitement for an upcoming match, parading through the streets. As we passed by each group of guys, the waved and smiled enthusiastically at us, yelling for their team. Near the front of the procession there was even an elephant, draped in the team's colors. And at the very front were two boys with whips. They swung the long, dangerous leather ropes around, cracking them loudly on the street, demonstrating their extremely effective traditional way of clearing the street before them, to make way for the parade. Well, that's one way to do it!

After the tour, I ventured out with my friend Yuri, our petite, sweet and fearless Japanese hostess. She and I braved the streets near the port to find ourselves some food and experience the atmosphere walking around. We were so obviously out of place in the area that everyone was staring at us. But the Sri Lankan people are so friendly, once you smile at them their faces instantly light up and send it back to you, and immediately you become a fellow human being, instead of a white stranger. It is am amazing feeling when that tiny transormation happens. Yuri asked to take one fruit vendor's picture, and he was so thrilled he put on one of the most beautiful smiles I have ever seen, and proudly posed for it. Afterwards he inspected the result on the digital camera, then insisted we take another, and smiled even bigger for it. Yuri and I had a snack and mango juices (amazing and so cheap!!) At a very local cafe, and went to a street vendor for the Sri Lankan golden coconuts they serve as beverages. The vendor was kind enough to machete them open for us and gave us straws. Yum!

One more favorite moment of the day was two little girls standing on a box by a public phone, pretending to call someone and giggling. Oh and finally, while we were touring a museum in the morning, several Sri Lankan classes of young girls and boys were having a field trip there. When they saw us, they were so excited and leaped at the opportunity to speak English to us. Most of them only know two things: Hello, and "what's your name?" I was asked this half a dozen times. When I answered they were thrilled, and repeated my name back to me with huge grins. What a neat day!
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