peace boat pics

i know it has been a long time. i guess since the boat made its way back to yokohama, i haven't had much need to add anything to this site. well, that was true until today. here is a more complete album of pics from the voyage. enjoy.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=12325&id=586619154

full circle

i'm back in tokyo again. yesterday, i put reba on an airport bus for narita, and as far as i know she's back home in the loving arms of her family. i'm still in the big concrete monster that is tokyo - trying to center my thoughts on where we have been and where we are going. sometimes i think it's too much for this little guy to think about.

the day after we got back we went to the hand over ceremony for the new teachers. all them were bright-eyed and fresh for circumnavigating this good earth. we (the old teachers) wished them luck and tried to give them the best advice 12 sea weary travelers could.

Back in Alaska again!

well, for me at least. reba and i are trying to stay warm and dry in a seward, alaska during a very moist season. it's out last stop on this tour, and we're feeling it. we've been busy wrapping up our classes and ushering our students back into life after the boat. it's been good having a hand in making a program from start to finish.

EXIT glacier - 10 years ago when i was a wee 22 year old i visited this little spot, climbed up the side of a hill to get a better look of the ice field, and lost my hat to hurricane force winds. at that time 4 years of college life had withered my body into a fat greasy mess. so, i was unable to chase after it. today, i'm prepared to go back (maybe) and retrieve it.

at the very least it's good to be back in this beautiful place. even though it will be for only a half a day.

Acapulco!

(right) reba being brave and trying out a water massage at the port. (left) super crazy cliff diving.

organic farming in el savador

reba planting banana trees.

pics from panama!!!

entering the panama canal

yet more wedding pics

oh canada!

greetings from vancouver! time is flying. well, sometimes it feels that way. however, the week before we got here i was feeling like a seasick caged animal.

today, reba and i woke up to the sound of a customs agent knocking at our door. i didn't know they could do that? but we got dressed, rubbed the crust out of our eyes, and got out into the hall to answer the big tall canadian's questions. then he sent in the drug sniffing dog to search our room. facinating. i never felt so happy to be leading an honest life.

we've been spending the day sending off excess luggage and boxes to our future home. (luv ya deb!) AND NOW i've finally got my hands on a reliable computer. trying to update this thing has been a little thorn in my side. i guess once we get back i will get the chance to add in more pretty pictures from the voyage. but for now... here are some more wedding pics.

Here are some other things to elaborate on later.

1. reba had a 24-hour bout of a mystery stomach ailment. it kept her in the doctor's office for the better half of a day.

2. matt's 32 (THANKS for all the nice emails wishing me a happy b-day. yet another thing to celebrate.)

3. matt's going back to japan to lead a group of high school kids in late june. apparently, the first time wasn't enough torture for him.

4. we met a first-nation female hip hop group called Rapture Risn'

more later! luv ya all!

wedding pics

hey everyone!

believe us! we're trying to get some pics from the wedding uploaded on the blog. who know that it would be so hard to find a fast enough internet connection. right now, we're in panama waiting to cross through the canal. hopefully, we'll be able to give you guys some more visual updates before the end of today.

barbados!!!!

Hello from Venezuela!! 4 intense days, several sleepless nights, 1 busted back (Rebekah) and 2 stubbed pinky toes (Matt – he keeps running into things)… So much has happened. Yet, very little of can be described properly in the text of an email. Matt was too sick to go to his Peace Boat bachelor’s party but recovered in time for Barbados. -------Side note: as we were sitting in the bar/restaurant on the boat writing this we were interviewed for a local Venezuelan government TV station. They said you can check out the broadcast on the net when it airs next Monday May 7th, at 4:30 Venezuelan time. Here is the info for any of you who can figure out when that will be in your local time. www.vtv.gob.ve. The show is called Senal (and maybe says Asunto Jovens.)------
Barbados was fabulous! We were thinking of a small casual sort of venue, but the moment we mentioned ‘marriage’ everyone stood up to offer some sort of help. It was very heart warming (of course). Luckily for us onboard this ship there are people of every background, hairstylists and make-up artists included. The past couple of days we were the center of a floating village where everyone was mobilized to organize a massive celebration. So we had two wedding events, one quiet on the beach, the other had 2 emcees, performances, greetings from the staff captain, presentations of gifts and a million cameras. It has been quite overwhelming but everyone has been so generous they have made it a real pleasure. We have so much more we can explain later, in person and at various times. For now this is where we will leave it.

Las Palmas!!!

Finally, we hit some hot weather. Most of Europe has been hitting us with cool brisk weather. Today, we landed in port and found a beach 5 minutes from the ship.

The other day we hit the half-way point! I´m not too sure what to think of time anymore. Our days are spent teaching and/or playing the part of entertainment for the passengers. Suddenly, 5 weeks are gone, and we´ve already travelled through half of the world.

At the same time, life in a massive floating tin bucket leaves us feeling a little isolated from the rest of the world (and its troubles).

Casablanca? Gibraltar?

Where are we? What's going on? If you all have been following our schedule, you would know that we were supposed to be in Casablanca by now. Well it's a funny thing... that terrorism stuff. The Peace Boat decided to skip that port for obvious safety issues, and drop all 600 of us off in Gibraltar.

the old city in DUBROVNIK

athens organic farm

Giza, Athens, Dubrovnik!!! - Where?

Egypt!! Crossed this off on our indiana jones tour of the world. 26 hours was not enough to really taste one of the pointiest wonders of the world. funny enough we've also started a list of places 'that we must go back to if we have the chance.'

Athens!!! reba and i split off and did non couple stuff. reba - checked out an organic farm (WWOOF - remember that from our oita-ken experience). i wondered around athens to all the touristy sites. be a tourist. there's nothing wrong with that.


Ahhh the pearl of the adriatic. the jewel of former yugoslavia. reba and i rolled on in yesterday and we're already in love with this little eastern european hide-a-way. if it weren't for all those tourist shops and $15 pizzas... nah... it's still beautiful.

entering into the suez canal

crossing the equator

selling my sketches for charity

eritrea - orphanage!!!

finally off the boat! EGYPT!!!

March 23, 2007
Crossing the Equator
Wear red and come to the party. We played global limbo with the Equator. At around 1:30pm we crossed into the Southern Hemisphere and had a group photo. How low can we go? Well just as far south as Mombasa for now.

Back in Kenya

Has it been 10 years? Really? We docked in Mombasa (Kenya’s second largest city and its busiest port). And do I mean busy. After getting off the boat, I quickly dealt my feelings of nostalgia to handle with the hordes of tour vans, cheap souvenir venders, smells of I don’t know what, and the DUST.

English SAFARI here we go! Well, there we went… out into the bush… deep into Tsavo National park. Although we were officially working for the English program on the boat to plan and facilitate an all English Safari, it was a treat to get a full-packaged safari tour (complete with a Kenyan singing and drumming troop).

A list of wild creatures spotted at 40mph…

13 elephants, 1 giraffe, 81 gazelles, 33 zebras, 1 dik dik, 121 giant ant hills, 45 dung beetles, 5 giant storks, countless other unidentifiable birds, 9 adult female lions, 1 helpless bird getting eaten by an adult female lion, 1 tour van sliding into another tour van and then getting stuck in the mud, 50 dust covered students, 10 sweaty and dirty teachers, and 2 overworked coordinators. .

1 April 2007

The curse of the blog. When can I ever get off this boat and find a reliable internet connection to update it? Where are we? What are we doing? These are the questions that I was planning on addressing in 19 countries. How can I at the pace we’re moving. A week ago we were in Kenya, and it feels like a lifetime away. A few days ago we jumped up into Eritrea and before we could even sit down and think about that HUGE experience we’ve landed in Egypt. We have the pictures to prove it all, but I’m finding it hard to find the words to describe it all. In the meantime, enjoy the pictures.

elephants @ the colombo elephant orphanage! eat eat eat... munch munch munch!

pics from singapore

the bomb scare poster campaign in singapore. be careful even the person sitting next to you can be a terrorist.

Singapore and Sri Lanka

Singapore
We had one day to ourselves in the city/state of Singapore. Spent hours and hours and hours walking and walking. Talked to some local people, the waiter in one café had just finished his 2 years of mandatory military service (Rebekah’s Day Out).
I hung out with the Great Kip Cates in little India. Well, I made him watch me eat. It was quite an experience. After working together for 3 years, we know each other’s ins and outs. So, of course we ended up in a Kinokunya (a big flash bookstore downtown). I spent several hours checking out the latest titles in English, Japanese, Chinese, French and German. It’s possibly the best bookstore EVER (Matt’s Day Out).

Sri Lanka
Matt and I went on a two day tour. The boat docked in Colombo and then we had a 3 hour bus ride to a village in the mountains. We had three part to the tour: cultural exchange with locals, especially kids. They were so cute, when we arrived they were lined up and neat holding flower necklaces for us and as soon as the bus arrived it the skies opened up. They got soaked while we waited in the air conditioned bus…finally the rains stopped and we got out to meet them and they were so excited. We did tug-of-war (yuck), held a spoon with a mini-lime on it (double yuk!!) and raced to the finish line, they did a piñata type thingy and lots of other party games…all under the pounding Sri Lankan sun. The next big thing was our homestay.

taiwan

oh yeah, here are some pics of taiwan (2/28 peace park). sniff... my people.

ROCK THE BOAT!

yes, yes, yes... it's awesome. it's intense. it's been described as many things. currently, where are we? vietnam!! pronounce it however you like (the correct queen's english or the john wayne way). reba and i had the chance to meet le ly hayslip (the woman who wrote 'heavan and earth' - later to become the third installment in oliver stone's let's open up old vietnam wounds trilogy). very cool. we had an informal get-together where we could ask her questions about her life, NGO, future, etc. it's so hard when i didn't prepare by reading the book. well, i kind of skimmed it. well, i'm still skimming it. if i get a free moment to sit down, i'll try to concentrate on it. we took a bunch of pictures w/ le ly. to be posted soon.

LIFE ON THE OCEAN. a couple of days ago we stopped off in taiwan. it was a first for me to enter 'china.' whether it is or not, it's to be debated. at least it was china... ish. people were asking me, 'wow, it's the home of your ancestors. are you PLANNING on breaking down and crying?' i thought about it. but it hasn't happened. all i did was eat things attached to a stick.

boarding times

Today's the day! well actually, tomorrow's the day. we board tonight to get ready for all those lovely passengers coming on in Yokohama on the 25th. and then we're off!

there's still so much to do (for peace boat and for myself). i can't even cover what we need to do for peace boat during our journey. i guess that will play itself out in this blog. but i just need to do so many little annoying things. like laundry. how long can you wear the same clothes w/o stinking up the whole world? i think my jeans are now completely toxic.

in tokyo for training

reba and i are in tokyo for training. we've been lugging piles and piles of stuff around for the past weeks. i just can't wait until we have a place to put it aside. until then 2 pairs of pants. 3 beat-up t-shirts, 4 pairs of mismatched socks, and some 'blown-out' boxers will have to be folded-up, rolled, or crammed into an under-sized backpack. i know i have more than that.

we just spent a few days w/ JP and Kae (not pictured) in hamatsu (also not pictured). they too are planning to move to 'back' to the States. so, it was good to share stories of the 'junk that rules our lives.'

4 days in kyoto. our kind of town!

reba and i spent a few days wandering around this ancient city to get our heads set on peace boat. the boat's keeping us busy by making us researching different ports on our journey. reba's in charge of looking up information on the former eastern block city of dubrovnik, and i am checking out key facts for colombo. did you know that dubrovnik is often referred to as 'the jewel of the adriatic,' and colombo is also known as the 'teardrop of the indian ocean.'

it's possible this was the last time we would get the chance to be in kyoto for a long time. what to do? see the sights again. soak them in one last time? naw... we had 30,ooo yen (approx. $300) worth of gift vouchers from ANA airlines to spend (reba cashed in on her miles - the perk of taking a 14-hour plane ride each way once a year). so, we got busy spending them by loitering around the ANA hotel during dinner time 3-days in a row. plus, we treated ourselves to an old fashion shiatsu massage. not sure of what shiatsu is? imagine a 4'11" woman attacking you with her thumb for 45 minutes. i'm sure there's more to it than that. i just haven't 'learned' to enjoy it yet.

up, up, AND AWAY!!!

it's official. we've finished out our contracts at the university, moved out of our house and left tottori. one of our friends commented that it must feel weird being 'unemployed...' hmmmm. it's been a long time since i have identified with that group. well, reba and i are trying desperately to hang on to that wad of yen that has now become our savings.


this past week we had to run the gauntlet of going away parties. there are so many emotions that we had to deal with. how do you leave a place that has been such a big part of your life for so many years? i know if you say that to some of the 'lifers' here, they would laugh and then slap you in the face. here's an image of me out w/ some friends for a night of karaoke. man, japanese kids really know how to drink and sing.

ants in our pants - 5 more weeks!!

so, we've come to the point where we start counting weeks, days, etc. officially, it's 26 days, 06 hours, and 15 minutes as of this posting. who's counting? we're experiencing so many emotions, but mostly it's a healthy mix of fear and excitement for the upcoming voyage. yet, we still have this big question mark for what happens after that. i guess it's first things first... send those boxes.