Fiji is Turning Out to Be a Really Nice Job.....

.....aided by the fact I somehow managed to get a 2 1/2 day weekend.  The weather has been absolutely beautiful lately, the water off the coast baby blue, the job has gone well, and the food is great.  After a rocky start, life is good.....very good.

The work days have been pretty long and that's part of the reason we got done a little early this afternoon.  I took the time to walk around the city for almost three hours taking photos.  Not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow yet.

The Fijians have been very friendly and welcoming and I don't think it's a "tourist thing."  A former British colony, they still have the Queen's portrait on their currency and in most of the buildings downtown.  The people are all very dark-skinned but there is a very obvious difference between African heritage and South Asian (India and Pakistan) heritage.  The Brits brought in a lot of Indian indenured servents during the colonial days and their influence is still very obvious today.  Lots of Indian restaurants in the downtown area. 

I've seen a few mosques, a few Hindu temples and a lot of Christian churches on the island.  I think Hindu is the predominant religion here but it seems pretty equally divided.

The Holiday Inn is right on the harbor--a small seawall marks the end of the hotel property.  In the evenings, before dark, I've been wandering along the coast and it is pleasant.  There's an old, old colonial hotel along the beach--the shutterd windows, fluted columns and arched wrap around-porch.
The name on the front is "The Grand Pacific Hotel" and I'll bet that in it's day it was a five-star place.  Right now, it's completely gutted and someone is doing a total renovaton on it.  I'd love to stay there in a couple of years.

There's also a "bowling green" located along the coast.  When I was in Southampton, England I came across the oldest bowling club in the UK, wandered in, took a couple of photos, and was promptly thrown out.  Here, however, it's far less formal.  The "green" is rather large and consists of beautiful grass much like our putting green grass on our golf courses.  The bowlers use a ball (looks to be leather) about half-way between the size of a softball and a volleyball.  I watched for quite a while the other afternoon and decided I definitely don't have the patience for the sport.

Many of the men here wear skirts.  I think it's actually a Polynesian thing.  Fiji, after all, is in the general location of cultures like Somoan, Maiori, even Hawaiian.  The skirts are worn by bankers, shopkeepers, even the police.  It appears to be completely normal and nobody thinks twice about it.  School children--boys and girls--wear them.

There are lots of schools located around the city.  Some are government-run; many are religious in nature; and some are just private.  The literacy rate is very good here but they do speak English with a very heavy accent which I often have trouble understanding.  Of course there are a lot of other languages spoken as well.

I've really enjoyed my first week and am looking forward to doing something this weekend.  I'll be flying home next Friday after five weeks on the road.  Still, I'm looking forward to my final week in this tropical paradise......

The First Week in Fiji is Almost Over and I Head Home a Week From Today.....

…..despite the fact nobody expected us here until next week.  We have a student from Papua New Guinea (actually Australian); one from New Zealand; and one from Fiji.  Three of us flew in on separate flights, weren’t met at the airport; made our way to Suva independently; and met at the hotel Monday morning.  The student from Guam didn’t make it at all.

Despite that, we’re off and going and it means I’ll probably have a five day work week with the weekend off now and I’m trying to arrange something tour-wise for Saturday.

Suva is the capital of Fiji and is an old colonial (British) town with some really neat and picturesque old colonial buildings along the “Parade,” or main street along the harbor coast.  The water and beaches here are not the pristine you see in the tour guides but it is a really nice and pleasant place.  Yesterday, I walked down to the national museum which is very small but very nice.  This is a good place to relax and vacation.

One major surprise is the weather.  Days are sunny and very nice but not too hot.  The evenings, however, are actually cool to the point people on the patio at the hotel are wearing long pants and sweaters.  This really surprised me.

My first week, for better or worse, is almost finished.  We’ll see what Week 2 brings.  In the meantime, I hope to get a good tour this weekend………

After a Ten Hour Flight, Was Stranded at the Fiji Airport With No Ride.....

……waited around 1 ½ hours then contracted a taxi service.  Not exactly the reception I was hoping for after a 10-hour flight. The airport is at Navi and I’m working at Suva, which is literally on the other side of the island—basically a 3 ½ hour ride on absolutely terrible roads with a Kamikaze taxi driver.  The fee was around $136 and I may be in trouble tomorrow but I had to get here somehow.  I’ll deal with it tomorrow……

Fiji may be a paradise to some, but not to the majority.  As we drove along the coast, there were flashes of the pristine beaches you see on the brochures, but they were inevitably on resorts and off-limits to the locals who live in Africa-type poverty.

The countryside is beautiful in its own way—reminded me a lot of Costa Rica with mountains, forests and rivers.

The Holiday Inn here did have reservations for me and is an older hotel but still nice and a good view from my room out over the harbor.   Ate a light lunch after arrival, unpacked, and took a short nap.  Later in the afternoon I took a couple of hours just walking around the downtown area.  There is a nice city park along the harbor side and it is very pleasant here.  I felt pretty comfortable but as it started getting dark, I headed back to the hotel.  After tomorrow when I talk to some of my students, I’ll have a better idea if its ok to come down here in the evenings to eat supper.

I got back to the hotel just as the sun was going down over the harbor.  I got a table on the outdoor patio and had a beer while the sun set behind the mountains across the water.  Palm trees in the foreground, fishermen with cast nets working the low tide, and a beautiful sunset.  Starting to feel like what I visualize Fiji looking like.

Nobody has contacted me yet so tomorrow I’m going down to the lobby and wait.  If nobody shows up for me, I’m going swimming around 9:00 am………

Killing Time Until I Head to the Airport......

.....Hong Kong has been the best part of this long job so far, and I'm really glad I worked in a trip to Macau--it was the highlight of the week.

Thailand was kind of a disappointment what with the six-day work weeks and long commutes, I didn't really get to do any real sightseeing.  On my first night to Hong Kong, I slept 10 1/2 hours which is something I haven't done since I was a kid but that's how exhausted I was.  The location in Hong Kong was actually beautiful--mountains and harbor views--but not really ideal for sightseeing either.  Except for yesterday.

Unfortunately, Fiji may be another Thailand-type work schedule.  Other than the day I arrive tomorrow, I only have one day off during the next two weeks.  Still, it's someplace I haven't been and it may turn out really nice.  We'll see.....

My flight today is at 5:00 pm and I have to check out of the hotel at noon so I'm spending the morning killing time.  I think I'll check out and head directly to the airport and spend the rest of the time in the business lounge.  Beats having to rush and fight the airport and security lines although Asian airports are so much easier than African, or even U.S., airports.

My next post should be from Fiji.......

Couldn't Arrange a Tour, So I Did the Solo Traveler Route Today and Did Just Fine Going to Macau.....

......a bit surprised--albeit in a very pleasant way.  I knew Macau was in a "transition period" like Hong Kong.  Both countries reverted back to China in 1999 but there was an agreement for them to have a 50 year transition.  Macau is the oldest European settlement in all of Asia and the Portuguese influence is very evident.

I couldn't figure out the Hong Kong train system so I just took a taxi to the harbor and caught one of their ultra-fast twin-hull jet boats.  I don't know the distance but it was almost exactly an hour trip and I would estimate most of it was 50-60 miles per hour on the water.  I had all kinds of stuff written out in Chinese to show the taxi drivers and ferry people but it turned out the signage was excellent and I really had no problems.  The ferry probably held 200 people and was only about a quarter full going over but packed coming back. 

The only slowdown was customs getting into Macau.  I had carried my passport just in case and it was a good thing, because Macau is still operating as an independent country and it took a good while to get through customs but I guess now I can add Macau to the list of countries I've visited.  Once through customs, I took a taxi to the old historical district of the city.  Macau is much like Las Vegas to us; the coast is virtually ringed by high-rise casinos and luxury hotels.  I think in many ways, it is one of those "playgrounds for the rich."  If I recall correctly, it is also a banking haven for the super-rich to hide their money.

The coastal area is like Disneyland or Branson, but once I got into the interior of the city, it became more European--read that, Portuguese.  I took a ton of pictures so those will be posted later. 

Some of the places I visited were the ruins of the Church of St. Paul--built in the early 1600s by the Jesuits using Japanese Christian workers.  It's really unusual in that the only part of the cathedral standing today is the front facade--everything else has fallen down.  The square in front, the long stairway, and the plaza at the entrance are all intact, as is the entire front wall including the statues in their alcoves and the European Baroque designs.  It's very bizarre but also very beautiful.

Above the facade are the remains of the Fortress do Monte, or mountain fortress built by the Jesuits from 1617-1626 to protect the church below as well as defend the coastline.  In it's time, it became a very formidable fortress for the Portuguese military and today the ruins are open and feature fortifications and old, old cannon.  In between the fortress at the top of the mount and the church ruins below, there is a really nice Macau Museum and I really enjoyed it--probably spent a couple of hours here.  The top floor of the museum enters into the old fortress ruins.  You can visit the Fortress do Monte without visiting the museum but it would be a shame not to do both--so I chose to do the full Monte.

From there, I just kind of wandered around on my own.  The other thing I really wanted to see was the Lagardo do Senado square and just by accident I wandered into it.  I've had days where I couldn't find something I was looking for to save my life, but today, I just wandered aimlessly and seemed to take every correct turn on the winding streets and ended up where I wanted to be.

The Lagardo do Senado square is the true historical European heart and soul of old colonial Macau.  Here, the buildings date back to the 1500s in some cases, and the plazas and fountains look very European.  One of the tourist brochures I picked up listed Macau as "Venice without the canals", which I have a problem visualizing.  I was in Venice many years ago on my honeymoon and I can see, however, the similarities in architecture.  The square was so old, so interesting, and so beautiful and I took a bunch of photos.

Wandering down a side alley, I found a quaint Portuguese restaurant and decided to have lunch.  Inside the old, old building it was very nice--two story and they sent me upstairs I suspect because the waitress up there spoke English.  But besides speaking very good English, she was also very attractive and I ordered a lunch of grilled lamb ribs with rice and a soup I can't explain but it was very good.  I also had not one, but two glasses, of Portuguese red wine.  It was a really nice lunch, not cheap, but a good investment to make this trip memorable.  And yes, I tipped the good-looking waitress more than I probably should have.  My prerogative......

After that, I backtracked back to the ruins and fortress, caught a taxi back to the ferry terminal, made a fairly fast connection to Hong Kong, cleared customs, took a taxi back to the hotel, and had one very nice day.

Tomorrow I fly to Fiji and another country I can add to my list........

.....and I suspect I will find out who actually reads this blog by the responses to one of the comments I made here........

The Hong Kong Job is Finished, Fiji Lies Ahead, and I've Got the Better Part of Two Days Layover Here.....

....and I've been unable to book a day tour to Macau so, if it's not raining tomorrow, I'm going to take a taxi to the harbor, book a turbo-ferry, and go on my own.  If you watch the news and see a video of a lost Texan in Tibet trying to get directions, you'll know I messed up big time with this.

The Hong Kong job went well, much smoother than Thailand and only a 15 minute commute each way.  I've enjoyed it here--the terminal was on an island off the coast and this area is covered with mountains, narrow winding roads, and is very beautiful.  Not at all like my last visit to the central city.

The express elevator at the hotel still takes almost a full minute to rise 87 floors.  That got me to thinking just how high I really am in my room.  I Googled "Houston skyscrapers" and discovered the Chase Tower is the tallest building in Houston at 75 floors--and is the 44th tallest building in the world.  My room is twelve floors higher than the highest building in Houston.  Just thinking about a fire below me is frightening. 

Macau is reportedly really nice.  It was the first European settlement in Asia and Portuguese is still the official language there.  Although it is dominated by high-end casinos today, there are still a lot of historical colonial landmarks and, supposedly, some of the best Portuguese food outside Portugal itself.  Since I'm not familiar with Portuguese food, this will be another first for me.  The only thing that might cancel this trip would be pouring rain and that's a possibility tomorrow.

Overall, though, the trip is half through; in general pretty smooth; and I'm looking forward to flying to Fiji Saturday afternoon.  I'll post my impressions of Macau when I get back......

Made it to Tsuen Wan in the Hong Kong Territory and Still Can't Upload Photos.....

…..I’m not actually in Hong Kong, but outside the city in the mountains.  The area here is known as Tsuen Wan and, in itself, probably has a half million residents. 

The flight was short, about three hours, but it took me almost an hour standing in line to clear customs, another 45 minutes to claim my suitcase, and another forty minutes taxi ride to get here.  The hotel caters to tour groups and, not exaggerating, there must have been over a thousand tourists milling around in the giant lobby.  That involved another 45 minute wait in line to check in but, in the end it was worth it, because I somehow got an upgrade to the executive suites on the top—87^th floor—so my room has a magnificent view of the harbor below.

The suite itself is three rooms and one whole wall—about thirty feet—is solid glass with, like I said, a magnificent view of the harbor, ships, and mountains surrounding the area.  There are two huge semi-suspension bridges, much like the Fred Hartman Bridge in Houston and at night they are lit up.  The harbor itself is immaculate and the land area is covered with high-rises but all are new and in pristine condition.

Photos, it seems, won’t be an option on this trip.  Not only is my computer not downloading, but now it can’t locate them in my camera.  I’m taking photos and know they’re there, I just can’t access them until I get home.  I really wish I could post my view from my room.

Today is Monday and I start work tomorrow, so I’m just taking it easy.  I hadn’t realized just how exhausted I was from the two weeks in Thailand.  Last night I walked over to a small shopping mall and ate in a noodle shop.  Cheap, really good, but this morning I wasn’t feeling 100%.  I don’t think it was the food, probably exhaustion.  I may eat there again tonight.

I did go out this morning for a walk.  It was raining pretty hard, so I rented an umbrella at the hotel and set out with a map to find an old ancient walled city that is now a museum within the city.  Actually, I found it pretty easily and checked it out.  It’s in the city itself, on the side of a mountain, but virtually surrounded by high rises.  It’s typical Chinese here—crowded sidewalks, traffic jams, neon signs in Chinese lettering almost making an awning over the street itself.  The streets are named in Chinese and English (British influence I guess), and I never really got lost.  The museum is called Sam Tung Uk and was nicely restored.

Walled cities were Chinese traditions over the centuries.  They would consist mostly of extended families and the walls created a fortress protection against the bandits and, occasionally even the local Chinese army and militias during uprisings.  Last time I was here, I visited a walled city in the New Territories that was very, very old and this particular one was still inhabited.  They even had an old cannon to protect their main gate to the city.

Anyway, sorry about the photos this trip, but this second stage in Hong Kong seems to be off to a good start……..

Some Random (Non-illustrated) Thoughts About My First Two Weeks in Thailand......

…..these have been a long, hard two weeks.  Working with an interpreter always is but this time we had to factor in the almost 4 hours of round-trip commutes every day.  This has resulted in 12-13 hour days and I’m exhausted—more so than any other job I’ve done overseas.  I fly to Hong Kong Sunday and have two days off before and after my next job, so I can catch up then.  I do plan to take a trip to Macau while I’m there.

The King of Siam, or Thailand, is the longest reigning monarch in the world—66  years.  Thais are observing with amusement all the hoopla surrounding Queen Elizabeth’s diamond jubilee.  The King is very revered here—photos of him are everywhere, in offices, on billboards, virtually everywhere.  And the people truly love him.  He is basically a figurehead in a democracy however Thai politics are extremely corrupt—even by American standards.  When things get really bad, the military overthrows the government, and then crack heads until they are pressured to call for new elections.  When this happens, the King steps in and convinces the military to lighten up on the people and then usually is the pressure that causes them to call new elections.  He is a moderating influence on the military and I suspect that is a large reason why he is so respected.

Despite the terrible reputation Thailand has for the sex industry and, especially child pornography, Thais in general are very conservative and religious—and it shows in all aspects of their society.  A Thai citizen will do the typical “bowing out” several times every day.  It consists of placing the palms of the hands together in a praying position and bowing toward the fingers.  This started with a show of reverence to the Buddha but is extended to shop keepers, taxi drivers, doormen at hotels.    When I start a class in the morning, we begin by standing, and then we “bow out” to start the day and repeat it at the end of the day.  It is also usually done when somebody says “thank you.”  The higher the reverence, the higher the hands are held.  We usually hold the hands with the fingertips just below the chin, but a monk would command higher respect.  When worshiping a Buddha at a temple, most Thais hold their arms extended all the way above their heads when bowing out.  It is a very gracious and graceful tradition.  Even Thai boxers do it before their matches.

In the mornings when we leave the hotel, the sidewalks are packed with food vendors—I have sampled their offerings but am generally afraid of the sanitation.   Buddhist monks, however, walk along the sidewalks in their orange saffron robes (I so wish I could download photos) carrying a ceramic pot and the vendors will offer them food.  For the monks, it is a requirement of humility and their only food they will receive for the day.  When the vendors give them food, the monk holds the pot above his head and the vendors offer prayers.  Even the monks, however, are required to share some of it with beggars on the streets.  I imagine it’s impossible to feel self-important when you must rely on others for all your food.  I’ve been told that, when he was younger, the King would put on robes one day a year and walk the streets asking for food to maintain humbleness and relate to the poverty of his subjects.  Somehow, I can’t imagine an American President doing that.

Traffic in Bangkok is terrible, but not the worst I’ve seen—that honor has to go to Cairo.  There are some traffic lights but most traffic is the “yield” nature and people rarely fail to let others in or out.  You rarely see drivers show irritation and I have never seen anybody yelling or giving the finger.  I think, in many ways, America has become a rude, crude and very angry society.  It is a pleasant experience to get away from it occasionally.

One of my students this week is from Singapore and has been going out in the evenings giving bottles of milk and biscuits to beggars with children.  Pretty cool, and the fact he’s Muslim sure shatters a lot of stereotypes.  There is no education like traveling and believe me, the media does not portray accurately the people of the world.  Tonight, he and I are going out for Sushi—that’s not a dietary restriction.

I turned in ten days of laundry yesterday and got it back this afternoon.  With the heat and humidity, you change everything daily, but my laundry was basically just pants, shirts, socks and underwear.  The bill for ten days came to over $182.00.  I’m authorized to have laundry done every ten working days so I’ll be doing one more on this trip—probably in Fiji.  I would like to thank all you Exxon consumers who are supporting this at the pumps.

I’m tired, and that’s it for this afternoon.  Hopefully, I’ll be able to download photos when I get to Hong Kong Sunday.  I’m looking for the time off, the chance to take some day trips, and the experience of a new country……

Still Can't Get the Photos to Download.....

.....the first week went ok.  The commute to the container terminal where we're doing the training can take up to 1 1/2 to 2 hours each way and these are six day jobs meaning I'm dead tired most of the time I'm at the hotel.  On Sunday I did take a train to the central market and walked around.  I really hope this photo issue goes away when I get to Hong Kong next weekend.  I'm thinking Devin may be right about the connection here--it tries to load my photo then denies permission.

Made it to Thailand With No Major Problems.....

.....and spent the first day trying to stay active and not nap so as to fight the effects of jet lag.  It was a long, hard trip but once I left the airport in a taxi, I remembered what it is that I like so much about Thailand--this is truly an exotic part of the world. 
     I got about four hours sleep, got up and decided to spend the day staying active no matter how tired I was so I could get a good night's sleep Sunday night before working.  After breakfast, I took their elevated monorail across town to the Chao Pryia River which is their large commercial waterway that runs through the city.  Their monorail was built by Germany and is super-efficient.  I went clear across Bangkok in about twenty minutes with two connections that cost less than $2.00.  I just don't understand why Houston can't do the same thing.
     This is my fifth job in Thailand and I'm getting pretty comfortable with the public transport here.  I knew where to get off the elevated and walked down to the public pier for the water taxi.  That ticket cost me less than 50 cents and I rode up the Chao Pryia River for several stops to the ancient Imperial Palace.   I've been there a couple of times before, so I skipped the palace this time and walked five or six miles to an old fortress in the ancient part of the city.  After looking around there, I headed back and managed to get lost in the maze of streets.  Not to worry, I simply flagged down a tuk-tuk--one of those motorcycles that has been converted to take three passengers--and he took me back to the water taxi pier.  That cost me about $3.00.  By then, I was getting really tired, so I reversed the journey and headed back to the hotel.
     I'm staying at the Imperial Queen's Park Hotel which is a really nice four-star located in a really good central location.  There's a high-end shopping mall next door which doesn't appeal to me but they do have a really good food court with various Thai restaurants so I'll probably eat supper there most of this trip.  I spent three weeks here on a previous trip so I know the area pretty well.
    Overall, a good start to a long job, which starts tomorrow morning.

I'm having problems downloading photos to the blog.  Devin suspects it may be my connection here at the hotel and, if so, it may be Hong Kong before I can download them.  I'll keep trying in the meantime.

Got a Five Week Job Coming Up in Thailand, Hong Kong and Fiji......(Yes, Fiji).....

.....going back to one of my favorite places in June—Thailand.  I'm flying out of Houston on June 1 and will be working there with Exxon in Bangkok and staying at the Queen’s Park Hotel in the city center.  I’ve stayed there before and it’s a really nice hotel in an excellent location.  I’ll be working 6-day weeks so I probably won’t be able to take any excursions but it’ll be great just to return, hit the tourist sites, and eat real Thai food.

            On June 17, I will fly to Hong Kong for a week and doing a 3-day program, so I’ll have a little time to explore.  I spent a weekend in Hong Kong earlier as a tourist but will have a little more time to really see the place this time.  The hotel I’m staying at in Hong Kong is insane—check out their website:  http://www.lhotelhk.com/eng/

            On June 23, I will fly from Hong Kong to Suva, Fiji—yes, Fiji—for twelve days with three or four days layover to see the island.  I’ll be staying at the Holiday Inn there which, from their website, seems nice and appears to be located on or near the beach.

            I’ll be coming home on July 5 which makes this about five weeks including travel time—the longest overseas job I’ve done but I can’t think of any better part of the world to do it in. 

Great Trip--Two 5-Star Experiences with Marathon Tours Group.....

.....and a few random thoughts about Bermuda now that I'm back home.

First of all, the "Bermuda Shorts" concept works really well in Bermuda but I don't see it taking off in Texas. They are, in fact, very formal and practical. They area always worn with the socks, long-sleeved formal lightweight jacket, and tie--and are a throwback to the British military uniforms worn in tropical locales in the past. I can't see walking into Jim-Bob's Bar in Alvin, Texas wearing this however.



The system of using ridged roofs to collect and treat rainwater is ingenious but also necessary as there are no streams, rivers or fresh-water springs on the island.

There is no wildlife in Bermuda......except chickens. During the runs I did see chickens scattered around the countryside--not the ugly white chickens we have here but the brown and red breeds. They roam at will--Bermuda is a relatively prosperous island so nobody is trying to eat them. We were warned, however, they they are truly wild and will attack if approached.

No photograph can do justice to the beautiful waters around the island--they range from emerald green to a turquoise-blue.


Another unusual aspect of Bermudian architecture is the "moon gate." The concept of an archway constructed in a complete circle was imported from Britain but is now considered a Bermudian fixture--you see them at hotels, in parks, and as we ran through the countryside, many of the private homes and estates had them as entrances to the sidewalks leading to their houses. It is considered good luck to cross through one of them. Not sure why they're called moon gates but I guess Bermuda Circle would be awkward since they already have a Triangle.

The 20 MPH speed limit is pretty much observed--in large part due to the narrow, winding roads. They use the British system of driving on the left side of the road and there are not many large trucks on the island. There is a large tourist industry in renting Mopeds but most of the people I talked to who tried them felt unsafe.



I used the cheap, efficient and clean bus system (which included the super-efficient ferry service) and felt it freed me up to relax and enjoy the scenery.

The races were well-organized and the support of the locals was very good. Bermuda only has 65,000 permanent residents so there weren't Boston Marathon crowds but, especially in the marathon on the third day, there were small groups of Bermudians waving and cheering at nearly every intersection along the winding roads. The runners were great! I arrived knowing nobody and left seeing people I recognized virtually everywhere I went.

The only downside was the weather.....it was miserable the first night for the mile race and tolerable during the 10K. The marathon race, however, was absolutely beautiful. On Friday night, we were seventeen minutes late starting (the only glitch all weekend), and during that period the rains opened up and poured down in sheets.

Front Street, in nice weather, is one of the most beautiful race courses I've seen anywhere.


Overall, however, like I said earlier, it was a 5-Star experience......

The Half Marathon Course was as Charming as it was Tough.....

.....and it was the toughest I've done yet. I've never done one with such beautiful scenery however. I usually set a sub-3-hour goal for myself and I completed this one in 3:14:00 and am very happy with it. Especially the last three miles, the hills really caused me to fade.

The weather was nearly perfect--about 67 degrees with clear skies and sunny weather. We did have one short shower but the sun came right back out and dried us off. Especially along the coast, we had a really nice breeze.

A lot of my tour group were at the finish line, cheering the late finishers and afterward we had a nice post-race gathering. This has been a good group. I accomplished what I set out to do: three days; three races; and four medals.



After the race I cleaned up and walked back downtown, had a light lunch, and spent about an hour walking around downtown Hamilton just to relax my legs.

Here are some random photos from the course today.....

Now it's Two Down and One to go.......

.....the 10K went well this morning. It was overcast and we had some light showers but nothing like last night. The race started at the National Stadium and wound around for six miles on the narrow, twisting roads in a circle back to the stadium. It was much more difficult than I had anticipated. On the elevation map, 200 feet didn't look that much, but it's 200 feet steep incline. The last mile was particularly tough. I finished in the time I set for myself and don't seem to have any blisters and my knee is doing just fine so far. Tomorrow, however, is the half-marathon and the weather doesn't look good at all.

After the race, I cleaned up and took one of the city ferries over to the far western part of Bermuda. As we pulled away from Hamilton, the view of the city and Front Street was really good.

The weather was still overcast so I took my Dynamo rain jacket and sure enough, when I got off the boat, it started raining. I headed to the first place, which was the Fishbone Pub and ate lunch there and the rain just intensified. I would say it was three times worse than last night and didn't seem to want to let up.

Bermuda gets lots of rain--although this isn't their rainy season right now. All the building roofs on the island are white and have ridge-rows--all of them by government decree. The reason is that there is no fresh water at all on the island--no wells or anything--so they collect rainwater for drinking. It rains so hard here (like today) that most of the rain splatters and is lost when it hits a solid object. They put ridges on the roofs to reduce the splatter and if you look near the bottom of this roof, you will see a trough near the bottom. That trough collects the water and sends it to a large tank and the tanks all feed into a city treatment center for drinking water.

Anyway, the rain let up enough that I went to the National Maritime Museum which is another very old British fort with a really good museum. I spent a couple of hours there and it started raining again so I caught another ferry back to Hampton and called it a day. Really ugly weather today.

A little runner's humor:

One Race Down; Two to Go......

.....made the connection in Newark and the short flight to Bermuda was east, however we arrived to high winds, overcast skies and rain. There is a pretty large group of us with this tour company and I didn't know anybody from Iceland last summer. We had a reception at the hotel--more or less a "get to know each other" meeting and it seems like a good group.

I'm sharing a room to save expenses and my roommate didn't arrive until almost 11:00 last night. We're both saving about $600 by sharing. I had been up since 3:00 am that morning so I slept well. The hotel is over 100 years old so it is built in the old colonial style but is very nice.

Friday morning I got up, ate a light breakfast at the bakery in the hotel, and bought a two-day transit ticket and took a bus ride across Bermuda to the historical area known as St. George's--on the eastern tip. Bermuda is actually six large islands and a bunch of smaller ones, many of which are uninhabited. From end to end, the islands are only 22 miles and the roads are single-lane and very narrow. They use the British system of driving on the left and the speed limit is 20 mph everywhere--actually you can't drive much faster than that on these curvy roads. It's also very hilly here which will make for tough running. The bus service is excellent and very efficient.

From Hamilton, I took the bus to St. George's--about a one-hour ride. I walked about three miles out to the coast and the old Fort St. Catherine which had been built by the British and reinforced after our Civil War. Seems Britain and Bermuda sided with the Confederacy during the Civil War and, afterwards, the British were afraid of reprisal raids by the Union navy. Although the fort was never actually used in combat, it is a really interesting museum and part of the Bermuda National Trust

After walking back into St. George's, I spent a couple of hours wandering around the old historic district. This is the oldest section of Bermuda and was the British headquarters during the height of the colonial period and the British Empire. The buildings have been restored to their colonial styles and the harbor has a rebuilt sailing ship. I ate lunch at a British-style pub and just spent lazy time just wandering around. The weather was absolutely gorgeous--clear skies and warm with a light wind.


The water along the coast and in the harbor looks almost artificial--deep blue in some places and emerald green in others.

Bermuda was instrumental in the colonization of America--the shipwrecked survivors of the Sea Venture built the small ship here, named the Deliverance, to carry them to Virginia. The similarities of New England and Bermuda culture are everywhere--they have the public stocks for prisoners in the square and a "dunking" seat for drowning witches.

After catching a bus back to Hamilton, I walked around the central city and along the harbor side back to the hotel. The Hamilton Princess is an imposing building--painted pink as is the custom here to paint buildings in pastel colors.


At 3:30 I picked up my race packet here since the hotel is the official race headquarters. It was kind of chaotic but this isn't a large race so it didn't take too long. Got four running shirts as part of my registration.

The race took place in early evening and it was pouring rain. I was in the first wave of runners (obviously not based on my time) and we had to stand at the starting line in the pouring rain for 17 minutes before the race started. I finished and was pleased with my time; tomorrow comes the 10K (6.2 mile) in the morning.

So far, so good......

Had a Good Travel Year in 2011 and Bermuda is Waiting in Just Two Days......

.....and, yes, that pink building in the background will be my hotel while I'm there.

2011 was very good to me travel-wise: Work in Indonesia; birthday in Iceland; mission trip in Peru; and work in Nigeria. Counting an overnight job in Canada, I visited five continents this year.
I'm pretty excited about Bermuda--everything points to it being a really interesting and enjoyable four-day trip in the middle of winter.

After the half-marathon in Iceland, my right knee problems came back with a vengeance. For nearly a month, I didn't even walk as exercise. Then came the Peru trip followed by the Nigeria job so I'm really not in any kind of "running shape." Actually, after the pain following Iceland, my doctor told me to quit running and I may, or may not, follow his advice in Bermuda.

I'm signed up for what they call the "Bermuda Triangle," which consists of three races in three days (get it, the "triangle"). The first night is a one-mile race through the business district
and what's neat about it is that us "turtles" will go first and clear the street, then the "elite milers" will run for a $10,000 prize--the runner who breaks the four-minute mile walks away with ten grand. There are reportedly runners enrolled from all over the world: Ethiopia, Jamaica, Kenya--all the major running cultures. Given the metric measurements for all races today in the Olympics and other world competitions, the one-mile race is an anachronism. Nobody really trains to be a one-mile runner, yet the allure of breaking the four-minute mile is something all elite runners strive for.

The next morning will be the 10K (6.2 mile) race. It will wind along narrow, often cobble stoned, streets along one of the beach fronts. I plan to walk both the one-mile and 10K races and save my knee for the third day when I will do the half-marathon (13.1 miles). Of course, my knee will be making those decisions and not I, however, my ultimate goal is to finish all three races and receive the Bermuda Triangle medal.

If I don't, I plan to just have a heck of a good time. Most of the days will be free time (even the half marathon is only [for me] three hours. That means I'll have plenty of time to explore the island--even though I may be limping and groaning.

I'm going with the same tour group that Devin and I used in Iceland so I may, or may not, know anybody else. To save money (the hotel is pretty expensive), I'm sharing the room with a runner from Philadelphia that I've never met. I've found serious runners to be an ok type of group--basically they're self-reliant, non-whiners, and pretty nice people.

I leave on January 12 and return on the 16th. A short trip, I think it'll be just right for the middle of winter here.

And in case you think I've impressed Devin with any of this: I haven't. He and Alida are leaving in February to celebrate their tenth wedding anniversary--to Tahiti. He's running the Tahiti Marathon and she's doing the half-marathon.

And I will have free Internet in Bermuda.....

Heading Back in Two Days so This Will be My Last Post From Nigeria……

……so far it’s been what I’d hoped for—an “in and out” job with few hassles and the chance to visit a new country. The second week of training hasn’t been as smooth as the first but it has still gone fairly well.

Not really much news here since last weekend…..The hotel continues to decorate for Christmas and the lobby is really feeling seasonal now.

For my next-to-last meal here, I went to the Mongolian BBQ tonight—I’ve been there several times and the chef recognizes me now. He’s pretty good and I got a photo of him.

Like the old song goes…..”I’ll be home for Christmas”…...

On Saturday I Took a Short Day Tour with a Motor Pool Driver Into the Countryside…..

…..As the capital of Nigeria, Abuja is only about twenty years old and is still being constructed and developed. The surrounding countryside, likewise, has not been developed and there are very few tourist destinations here. Everything I found in guidebooks suggested two very large rocks were the prominent features so on Saturday I arranged a ride with the embassy motor pool and visited them. “Visiting” is a loose description since there are no facilities at either location; no hiking trails; no interpretative centers; not even a scenic road side park.

Abuja is pretty much central to Nigeria and we started at the nearby Aso Rock and then drove north up to the Zuma Rock—about an hour’s drive from the city.

Aso Rock towers over the city of Abuja and the President, whose name is Goodluck Ebele Johathan, has his palace at the base of the rock and the military has a small outpost on top—accessible only by helicopter according to my driver.

From there we drove north on a major highway that is about 70% completed. It is designed as our Interstate with two roads separated by a median and is in very good condition except where they are still doing construction—which causes major tie-ups and really leads to the crazy driving Nigeria is so famous for.

The countryside is beautiful—very flat here with extreme hills that appear to have been virtually thrust up out of the earth in some former geological period. Some are low-lying hills while others are very much like our Devil’s Tower, only smaller versions.

At one point we passed a large hill that marked the exact geographical center of Nigeria. As we approached Zuma Rock—the most famous in Nigeria—the view was made difficult by the smog. This is also true in Abuja as there are no landfills or dumps and people burn their trash everywhere and it literally leaves a permanent haze everywhere.

The closer we got, however, Zuma came more into focus and the famous “face” became more easily to see.

Basically we drove up to the rock, turned around, and headed back. Still, I’m glad I got to see it and it was good to get out of the city for a couple of hours and see the countryside.

Before returning to the hotel, the driver stopped at a craft village where I wandered around awhile and bought a wooden mask. It was constructed with African huts along a walkway and was really a nice place to visit. I’ve been to craft markets all over Africa and most are dirty filthy, unorganized and filled with overly-aggressive vendors who will literally grab you and try to pull you into their stalls. This place was much different and enjoyable to visit. I managed to bargain down the mask by the usual 30% and was happy with my purchase.

After returning to the hotel, I just took it easy the rest of the day and am basically doing the same today (Sunday). I have two 2-day programs at the embassy this week and fly back around midnight on Thursday—arriving in Houston early Friday morning (seven hours time difference in reverse this time). I have been pleasantly surprised with Nigeria and, while not one of the more exciting trips I’ve made, it’s been a good one so far…..

The First Week Went Really Well and I've Actually Enjoyed Nigeria.....

…..Of course everyone, including Nigerians, tell me this is far, far different than most of the rest of the country—especially Lagos. Abuja was created around 1992 to be the new capital of Nigeria after horrendous violence had divided almost all the rest of the country. Today Abuja represents what the government would like for the rest of the country to be—clean, modern, and relatively violence free. However, it’s still not recommended I wander off the hotel compound by myself—especially at night. The hotel is very self-contained: three restaurants, several lounges, a sports bar, shops, and basically everything I could need—albeit at outrageous prices. I have eaten a couple of times at the Mongolian BBQ but most evenings I go down to the sports bar by the pool and eat a pizza, a hamburger or chicken wings—you know, the really healthy food that only costs about half as much as at the restaurants.

I have a couple of Nigerian contacts at the Embassy and they have taken care of everything involving the training and the first week went especially well and smooth by US State Department standards. I’ve been here a week and haven’t talked with a single US citizen but that’s not that unusual. Security, as you would imagine, is at high alert all the time. The embassy was moved to Abuja in 2005 so the building is still fairly new. From the road, it looks like a prison—surrounded by razor wire, guards everywhere, concrete barriers and blast-proof windows starting at the third floor level. Basically a really ugly building….. The United Nations building that was basically destroyed by a truck bomb last August is just down the road.

Like most African nations, security is a big business here in Nigeria. You have soldiers, police, traffic officers, tourist police, and hundreds of private security companies. The trick is knowing who is responsible for what. The use of force by security varies depending on the level of the security agency. Tourist police simply watch crowds and attempt to negotiate a compromise in cases such as a store owner taking advantage of tourists or they may run off street vendors who become too aggressive. Traffic wardens are unarmed and stand in the middle of intersections and attempt to direct traffic. Since most traffic lights here don’t work, it is a thankless and very dangerous job and most motorists simply ignore them. After that, the security gets more complicated and involves the carrying of batons, pistols, automatic rifles and even shotguns. But even the carrying of guns can be misleading.

Several years ago I was working in Equatorial Guinea which is possibly one of the most repressive governments in Africa. There are road blocks everywhere and most of them are to extort money from drivers. We were in a training vehicle with a British driver when we were stopped at a roadblock by an obviously very drunk soldier who was extremely belligerent. The soldier was leaning in the driver window and waving his gun barrel inside the vehicle but the British guy didn’t seem too concerned. When he finally realized we weren’t going to give him any money, he slapped the top of the vehicle and waved us on. Later I asked the driver if the gun being pointed inside the vehicle didn’t bother him and his answer was “No, the drunk soldier was wearing a purple beret and they don’t give them ammunition.” So, not everybody walking around Abuja with a gun has ammunition but I don’t know which do and which don’t so I keep a low profile.

We did have an interesting situation Thursday after work when we were being transported back to the hotel. There was a major intersection without a traffic warden and traffic was unbelievably snarled. It was basically gridlocked and nobody would back up or let anybody else go in front. We sat there about five minutes and a soldier showed up and tried to sort it out. The military don’t usually do traffic control but this guy was trying to get people to back up and let others through and even though he was screaming and yelling, nobody was paying attention to him. All of a sudden he pulled his pistol out and pointed it into the air and it was amazing how fast people started throwing their cars into reverse and backing up. I’m assuming he probably did carry ammunition.

At any given moment there are literally hundreds of security officers around the hotel grounds and some of them are carrying automatic weapons and I don’t question for a minute that they do have ammunition. The Nigerian Army has soldiers stationed at the entrances and I’ve seen an armored carrier parked outside the main entrance several days. I do feel safe here, however.

Nigeria as lots of oil and of course that attracts lots of people wanting that oil. It’s interesting in the lobby of the hotel at any given time: you have American and European businessmen; Arab oil sheiks, and Nigerian businessmen in Western clothing as well as traditional clothing. For several days I would see in the morning and in the evening a group of about twelve men in very ornate and intricate clothing that looked much like what we visualize the Three Wise Men looking like: very ornate robes and cloaks with head turbans wound around the tops of their heads. I asked my contact at the embassy and he told me they are palace guards. In Nigeria, there are still sultans who consider themselves royalty and, since they control considerable areas of oil-rich land, nobody really confutes them. These men in ornate robes are their palace guards and what was really distinctive about them was the fact that not one of them was probably under seven feet tall and several were well over that.

And it's possible to see all types of ethnic clothing in the lobby.....

This Hilton is very large, I would guess with as many as 3,000 rooms and since I’ve been here, they’ve been getting into the holiday spirit. Nigerian has very large populations of Muslims and Christians and Christmas is very prominently celebrated here. The hotel has decorated with Christmas trees, holly and lights everywhere and Wednesday evening, they had a choir in the lobby singing traditional Christmas songs and they were really outstanding.

For lunch during the day, we’ve been going to a local restaurant named “Mama Cass.” I don’t know if it has any direct reference to the singer of the 1960s but they have traditional Nigerian food and I’ve been very careful but so far haven’t had any negative repercussions.

Every African town or city has a central craft market and here in Abuja it is conveniently located on the grounds of the Hilton Hotel which means it’s safe and the vendors aren’t nearly as aggressive as other places I’ve gone. Basically the goods are the usual wooden masks, beads, pottery and lower to mid-level quality souvenirs that I usually refer to as “Africrap.” What gets me, though, is the hotel brochure describing the village: “It has various collections including such amazing treasures dating as far back as the 15^th century slave trade era.” Yeah right—I think Blackbeard may have worn these beads……

Made it Over Here OK and the First Day Was Successful…..

…..and most importantly, there was someone at the Abuja airport waiting for me. That is one of the most stressful parts of any job—arriving at an African airport traveling alone and not sure if anyone is expecting you. I’ve been to Africa twelve times now and three times nobody’s shown up and believe me, you are really vulnerable—no local currency, no ride and unable to even make a local phone call for help. It happened to me in Chad, where I had to negotiate a taxi ride at 4:30 in the morning and ended up getting clipped for about $50 for a fifteen minute ride to the hotel (which I did expense); it happened in Cameroon where I had to physically get in a shoving match to keep a taxi driver from loading my suitcase in his cab against my will (a woman from the company I was working for in Douala happened to see it and got a soldier involved then she took me to an office and called for a ride); and it happened to me in Ethiopia where I luckily came across a Hilton Hotel (where I was staying) shuttle driver who agreed to take me to the hotel and charge my credit card.

So when I clear customs and see the driver holding a sheet of paper with my name on it, believe me, it is one of the most relaxing and welcome sights involved with foreign travel. At Abuja, there was my name and four other names on the sheet of paper and I was shuttled to the hotel with another contract embassy employee and three members of US Customs who were attending a conference this week at the same hotel where I’m staying (the Hilton). What was strange about the nearly one hour drive into town was that we were met by a motorcycle escort with police lights and siren at the airport parking lot and he directed us into town—blocking exits as we went through intersections and forcing cars to the side so we could pass through.

There is a lot of tension here right now. Nigeria had its first suicide bombing here in Abuja earlier this year and the United Nations headquarters here was bombed in August with considerable fatalities and injuries. One of Nigeria’s many splinter groups (an Islamic separatist group) is threatening to bomb four luxury hotels in the city this holiday season—the Hilton being on the list.

After unpacking and showering, I went downstairs to eat supper and came across the embassy employee and one of the customs officials and we ate at a Mongolian BBQ restaurant here in the hotel. While the food was being prepared, I asked the employee if that kind of escort is usual around here and he replied that a lot of the customs guys like “to act like cowboys” when traveling around. What is really strange to me is that for the next two weeks, my students and I will be driving around Abuja traffic in a vehicle with US diplomatic tags and absolutely no escort or even contact with the Embassy except for a cell phone.

The hotel is very nice but basically a fortress. It is located on a really large compound with high brick walls topped with razor wire. The hotel itself is probably at least 100 feet from any street. There is also a conference center, some mall shops and of course parking areas and there is a small series of streets inside the hotel compound and all have been lined with large concrete barriers placed on the shoulders so that no vehicle larger than a sedan can get through them. Even the entrance to the hotel has three spaced security checkpoints configured so narrowly that a box truck can’t pass through. The only way a truck can get in is probably the service docks and I’m pretty sure they screen that area thoroughly too—I can’t see them spending that much money on security and not checking the back docks. Even the sidewalks here have concrete blocks spaced so a pedestrian can step around them but a motorcycle can’t use them.

Inside, the hotel is really nice. There are three themed restaurants, several bars, a small shopping mall, banks and other services. They even have a little safari village on the grounds selling Nigerian souvenirs. I probably won’t leave the compound except to work. But as you might expect, all this comes at a price. I have a $132/day meal allowance here and it would probably take most of it to eat three meals a day here. Internet is $45/day and $22/hour although I can buy a 24-hour card in the business center for about $25 and I will probably do that early in the week and maybe next weekend. A cup of coffee this morning (with no refills) was about $8.00.

I had Sunday off as a layover day to recover from jet lag and this afternoon I got a call from the embassy motor pool and the supervisor who will be my contact discussed the coming two weeks with me.

I was picked up as scheduled at the hotel and met my students for the coming week on Monday. Three are Nigerian; one is Congolese; and the fifth is from Equatorial Guinea—and all speak really good English. That is always a concern—standards vary greatly as to what is “workable English.”

The first day went really well and Abuja is actually a very clean and attractive city. I didn’t take my I Phone today since embassies vary as to whether or not they will allow them inside but this one does so I should start getting some photos tomorrow…..