Pics

View of Amsetrdam from Van Gogh museum; Liam playing music in the apartment; kids at Van Gogh (no pics inside so this is all we could get); Kids on street.



 

Women and children slaughtered in Baghdad

This is so sad.

A fiery explosion tore through a line of people
waiting to buy fuelSaturday and killed at least
38 people, mainly women and children,continuing
the wave of tit-for-tat sectarian killings that
have defied US efforts to stanch the bloodshed.
The horrific blast sent women engulfed in flames
screaming through the streets. Two preteen children
embraced each other as they burned to death,
witnesses said.

Demo in Amsterdam-

We attended the rally against the US and Israel's role in the Middle East in Amsterdam today. It was interesting talking with people and hearing their views on Bush. Being abroad this long, I have the privilege of witnessing the US as an outsider rather than one in the midst of all the insanity. It obviously gives me a broader perspective on how the US policy affects the world.


pics: Liam and Luna drew peace signs on their hands. lluna wrote "Bush" and a check mark next to it signifying that it is incorrect and a star next to the peace sign signifying that peace is correct. Last pic is the children petting a peace dog.

Chavez rocks!

This guy has courage.

Liam's Dream

Liam was telling me of his dream this morning at breakfast...

I had this friend that was a skeleton and we hopped on a boat and we wanted to sail. What else in my dream there was is there was this friendly bear that drove a pirate boat that was brown and there was another one who was a friendly polar bear. The polar bear was a passenger who sat by the driver. We sailed and told them where we wanted to go and we wanted to o to Africa. So they sailed us to Africa. They dropped us off and we hopped back on and went to Asia. Then we wanted to go to India. They sailed us there. Then they sailed us back to the country we were in which was Paris. We went back to Paris where they parked the boat. It was bedtime then.

The words of a world traveller...

Lost in Amsterdam!

Ah what a place. We spent the day wandering about the city really not knowing our way around in hopes of reaching the centrum and getting a better map than the Lonely Planet one. We did. We returned to the train station and I purchased a map and transit card. We found a Ben and Jerry’s and ate sorbet. This city is so charming with canals, boats, and old buildings. It doesn’t feel like a city at all. We met the woman next door on our way out and she was so nice gave us some advice on where to go. There is a farmer’s market tomorrow. Hooray.

We headed for the canal cycles. We rented a canal bike and pedaled along oneof the many canals. It was comical at first as Byron and I kept running into houseboats and turning ourselves around. At one point we were turning into another canal and a giant boat was coming straight at us. I panicked and the boat stopped for us. I apologized and felt like a dork. The people were very mellow and stopped their boat while we backed up. Luna and Liam got chances to pedal. It was fun. The dock was right at the AnneFrank house so we went in. That was very interesting and sad. We went into the rooms she and her family stayed in. Luna understood, Liam was bored. We watched videos of Auschwitz. Byron read the Diary of Anne Frank in Kolozsvar and was very interested in going.

The kids are dying to rent bikes. I am hesitant because this is a serious bike place. There are separate paths everywhere and if you walk on or across them it is like a street where one must look. Basically the bikes and pedestrians own the roads, not the cars. If you getin a biker’s way though they are mellow and ring their little bells. At the train station there is an actual parking garage for bikes with thousands of bikes! Really! I love it. Luna decided that it is better to bike than drive and she wants a bike instead of a car when shegrows up.

Earlier we had frites (fries) for a snack. People are very serious about their frites and sauces. Sate (satay-peanut sauce) is a popular topping. Last night at the train station we tried curry frites. The curry was sweet. The sate was also sweet. Quite an experience. Liam loved it. Byron and Luna grew weary of them fast. I loved them but felt guilty the whole time. I guess the 10 lbs I inadvertently lost this trip will return.

Tomorrow there is a demonstration against the role of the US and Israel in the Middle East. Of course, I will go.

Eurojournal-21 Sept 2006 (Dublin and Amsterdam!!!)

Today we explored Dublin for the day before our flight to Holland. We ate breakfast and visited Kilmainham Gaol which is a former prison for political prisoners. The prisoners from the Easter Rising in 1916 were executed there. It was fascinating to learn more about the history of Ireland. We walked back and ate lunch and caught a bus to the airport.

The check in and security at this airport was fabulous. The line was small and the carry on restrictions were more lax. Just because of London Byron and I felt the need to see if our bags fit in to the airline measuring box. There was a lot of room. I guess in London they made it smaller. We did keep our carry-ons to a minimum though. We made a friend in line. A 3 year old girl names Efa and a baby names Liam. Liam was pretty happy that there was a baby Liam with blue eyes too.

We arrived in Amsterdam with no problems. We flew to Eindhoven which is far south, bus to train and train to taxi. I was a little surprised at the Dutch spoken. I knew it was here but I was expecting more like Norway where there were bilingual signs and everyone spoke English. People speak English though. I got out my Europe phrasebook and did a crash course on basic Dutch. I met a really sweet woman on the train and talked with her a bit. She helped us find our stop. Our apartment is really sweet and in a great spot. The neighborhood seems quaint from what I can tell at night. The apt has a small garden in the back and it so big in comparison to our dorm rooms. Bikes are everywhere here. There are places along the canal with hundreds of bikes. I am looking forward to exploring the city tomorrow. It looks like no other we have traveled so far.




 

Pics-Peace wall in Belfast

 

Eurojournal-20 Sept 2006 (Belfast, Northern Ireland)

Today we went on a black Taxi tour of Belfast. We saw toured the Shankhill and Falls neighborhoods. Shankhill neighborhood is the highest concentrations of Protestants and Falls is catholic. 85% of schoolchildren in Northern Ireland are segregated according to religion. The schools are state schools which are predominantly Protestant. Some schools are mixed meaning that if one is Catholic, they do not have to partake in Protestant religious lessons. There is no separation of church and state here. If a person’s religion is something other than catholic or Protestant, people will ask if they are(let’s say they are Muslim) are Catholic Muslim or Protestant Muslim classified by what neighborhood they reside. Certain places are mixed like the city center and the neighborhood where we were staying. Others are not. The Protestant neighborhoods are clearly marked by waving the union jack flag (British) and one neighborhood had their curbs painted red white and blue. The Catholic areas are not so obvious. We drove on a main road separating the neighborhoods. All police stations are heavily walled. Neighborhoods are fenced.

We first visited Shankhill, the Protestant area. Shankhill means old church. Murals were everywhere in this neighborhood. People are very tight knit here and have been for generations. It was a normal green grassy neighborhood with townhouses. On the sides of the townhouse buildings were the murals. One honored the factions fighting for the Protestants. According to the guide they are illegal. Their guns are not obtained legally. One of them is called the Ulster Freedom Fighters (UFF) another is the Ulster Voluntary Force (UVF). Two murals were memorials dedicated to specific men who died. One man was murdered by the UVF, demonstrating infighting within. The most disturbing mural was that of a person in a black ski mask with a gun pointed at us. No matter where we went the gun pointed at us. This mural lets people know that they are being watched.

We came upon the Peace wall. This was built by the British Government in the 1970’s as a result of heavy fighting. It was so bad that the British sent in “peacekeeping” forces to build these walls. Even now, at night the gates are closed. All over the walls are murals and peoples’ names form all over the world. People from Canada, Australia, Africa. Our guide gave us a marker and said while he cannot encourage vandalism, he has a marker if we would like to write something. We took it and looked at the wall in amazement. The small murals were historical accounts. The rest of the wall were names. Each of us added our name. Luna wrote a peace sign in hers. Quite powerful.

We proceeded to the Falls neighborhood, the largest of all Catholic neighborhoods. It was not as obvious. Behind the peace wall the Catholic houses lie very close. We saw a string of murals in the neighborhood. Just for clarity, not the same as the place wall or even near. The first mural was that of Kieran Nugent also known as the first blanketman. He began the protests as a political prisoner which lead to the hunger strikes later. I recommend watching the movie Some Mother’s Son with Helen Mirren to understand the hunger strikes. Next was about Palestine. Another was a tribute to Irish POWs, Frederick Douglass, and Bodenstown. The Bodenstown mural had a picture of the president of Sinn Fein who was killed by Protestants in the 1970’s. Another mural had Bobby Sands and two spaces were dedicated to George Bush. Bush is sucking the oil out of the Middle East. Ah, Byron and I took humor in that one. It stared a discussion on what the Irish think of him. Our guide was clear that no one really likes him and definitely no one supports the war regardless of Catholic or Protestant. He said that the Catholics do not support the troops or invasion whereas the Protestants do not support the invasion but will support the troops. The Catholics and Protestants also agree on English futbal (soccer).

We passed by the Europa hotel which is the most bombed building I Europe. I asked the guy if he had fear living here and he said it was like where we are in CA with earthquakes. We really don’t think about them. A little timeline or at least my understanding of it. This whole problem began in 1606 when the Protestants came to Ireland. Later the issue with Britain came adding to the problems. 1916 was The Easter uprising or Bloody Sunday. 1988 was the worst bombing. 1994 there was “peace.” With only a few bombings since then. I am hoping to do more work on this and write more. What was really interesting is I have always heard about the IRA as a terrorist group in the states. Yet I have never heard of the UVF or UFF. Both sides have their paramilitary forces yet the US considers only one on the list of terrorists. Perhaps the other groups are considered as well but not as famous in US media. I wonder why. Is it because the protestants groups are aligned with British forces?

Sooooo..after our tour we returned to the hostel to finish laundry and check out. We ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant. We arrived in Dublin and walked around the city foraging for food. We found the Dublin castle which was pretty neat. It’s a cute city and rather mellow. Though I was tired and cranky, everyone else was relaxed and polite.


First two murals are form the falls nieghborhood (Catholic) and last two are the Shankhill (Protestant)





 

Eurojournal-19 Sept 2006

We woke up after sleeping in a bit. Even Liam slept in past 8am. I felt a cold coming on so I welcomed the extra sleep. We got ready and ate the free breakfast prepared by the owner. This guy is so interesting. He is abrasive but lovable. Much like that character Belize. The kids make him laugh and smile. He cooks in the kitchen singing classical music. The breakfast was so sweet. Fresh, hot Irish oatmeal, cornmeal muffins, toast, jam and Irish breakfast tea. We filled up as it was a long day on the train today and lunch was questionable. I was hoping for a way to change the whole schedule and stay another day here. I grew very connected to this place. No luck and I could not get earlier train schedules. So off to Belfast we go.

We walked to the village and took in the beauty. Along the road we saw an old stone church, a colorful bar with about 10 multicolored chickens or roosters outside, Aran sweater shops, sheep, cottages and fences. We arrive din the village. I went into a sweater shop in hopes of a cotton sweater. I almost put my ethics aside and bought the wool sweaters but couldn’t. No luck. Oh well. Kids got their souvenirs. Liam has been collecting coins, Byron pens and Luna postcards. We grabbed veggie burgers and got on the boat to the mainland.

Boat to bus to train. We took a train all the way across Ireland to Dublin. We saw green rolling hills, sheep, forests, villages, cities and cows. We arrive din Dublin and had to take a tram to the other train station. That was fun to get a taste of Dublin. We took the train north to Belfast, Northern Ireland and arrived around 9pm. Wow, he we were in Belfast! I have always been interested in the history here between the Catholics and Protestants and Britain’s colonization of Northern Ireland.



 

More Inis Mor pics

Yep I clutched onto a stone and dangled my foot of the edge of this awesome cliff.



 

Inis Mor pics

 

Eurojournal-18 September 2006 (Inis Mor)

It is Monday and we are in Inis Mor. It is absolutely amazing here. We woke up in Galway, a town in Western Ireland to heavy rains and got soaked after walking 2 blocks. We took the bus to the harbor and then the ferry to the island. The ferry was fast and the waves were big, a reminder that we were in the Atlantic. We arrived to this quaint town. We asked where our hostel was and it was a mile or so away. Normally not a problem but in the rain with luggage, quite a chore for us. I was in the gift shop while Byron, Luna and Liam somehow decided we were taking a horse drawn cart. First Liam runs in and tells me enthusiastically, “Mom, we are taking a horse!” Then Luna, then Liam again. I go out and the horse and carriage are waiting for us. How could I say no? We climbed in with our luggage and went on a 3 hour tour…yes a 3 hour tour.

We hopped on and he took us to our hostel first. What a sweet place. Up the road from the village overlooking the ocean and rolling green hills with stone fences. The owner reminded me of the actor who played Belize in Angels in America. I enter the receptions and am greeted by a “Yes, Ms Arenas.” Wow, that obvious? I knew instantly I liked this place. We got our room and got back on the buggy for a trip around the island. We traveled up the street surrounded by stone fences (I love those!) and cottages. Reminded us of the village in Romania. Heavy rain came and we stopped for a bit until it slowed down. The man told us about the stone fences. They were once when families lived here to separate their property but since then people have emigrated and they are left behind. The primary economy is tourism and was once fishing. There is hardly ever snow anymore. He said it has changed because of global warming. When he was young there was more snow.

We arrived at Dun Aonghasa. He dropped us off and said he would wait for us. It usually takes and hour or two. What was this place? He mentioned the cliffs before so maybe it was a walk up to them. We stopped at the café and another really heavy downpour came just in time. The café was crowded. Someone offered to share their table with our clan. This man was 4th generation Inis Mor-ian. We had some wonderful fresh baked brown bread. I could taste a lot of corn meal. It was yummy. We had a bag of food for lunch and we ate. We even finished this vegan tart from London that we have been trucking around. One of the things that almost went in the trash at the airport! It was divine. The café itself was warm and welcoming.

The rain stopped and the sun came out. We headed up the hill. Everyone kept warning us about the children. Wow, what are we getting into here? We hiked up a rocky hill and reached one part of the monument. The views were breathtaking. In one direction we saw the green rolling hills and cottages and the other was the ocean with cliffs. This was the place I have always wanted to see. We went inside the monument and it was so windy. We could barely hold ourselves up. The children loved it. They could fly. We went to the edge carefully. Oh my gosh! Byron layed on his belly and looked down at the ocean over the cliff. Wow. I can’t even explain what it was like. It was almost the inverse of the fjord in Norway. In Norway we looked up at these magnificent vast cliffs. Here, we were looking down. If we stood up, got distracted and one blow of the wind, we go into the water, far far down. I was in awe of it all. Wow. I have never seen anything like this ever. After taking it all in we went up to the next part. Even better and even windier. So what was this place? Dun Aonghasa is a semicircular Celtic fort. It was built by ancient Celtic tribespeople around 2000 b.c.

We walked back and found the man with the horse and buggy. We got on and he took us along the coastal side of the island. We stopped where the seals make an appearance at low tide. Unfortunately the tide was high but will be low tonight or early tomorrow. The children are excited about the seals because of the movie Roan Inish. We returned to our hostel and walked a bit. Kids picked blackberries. I am here writing this and the children are outside playing cars. The views from our window are lovely. What a great place.

The children went to bed well. Byron bought the dinner at the hostel. I went in and checked on him. The dinner was prepared by the owner. It was in a small dining room with a fire going in the fireplace and classical music playing. Nice. I decided to order dinner as well as most of it was vegan. Byron was already eating with a woman from the bay Area originally but now living in the UK. Fun conversation. The dessert was amazing. A wine glass with a syrup and cooked pear. Yum!