Thompson family adventure

Mark's African Adventure

Sun, 03 Jun 2007 11:48:00 +0200

Well sorry for such a long delay in updates, but we have been trying to switch to our own site. No luck so far on that.

Well Mark recently went out on a boat with the Navy for about a month. Did plenty of real Navy work, but the real point is Mark was able to visit Sicily, Spain and Senegal. The visit to Sicily was just one evening in a city, and the part I saw was similar to a lot of the other areas in Italy. Definitely need to get back down there for more exploration.

The stop in Spain was for 2.5 days and coincided with the big fair that they were having in town. Rota is a beautiful town on the coast and had a really nice beach and plenty to keep me busy near the water. We hung out at a bar on the beach one day, but don't worry I was not bad. Loved the town and loved that you seemed to be able to go anywhere in town for 5 euro (love nice cheap cabs).

After Rota, we spent several weeks on the boat doing a big exercise where we did lots of planning and organizational stuff for a fake humanitarian disaster. Learned a lot about how the Navy operates in the grand scheme of things in relation to the State Department in these type events.

Once we pulled into Dakar, Senegal, we were excited to get out and have a good time in this new port. After talking with Ann, I decided to take the second flight home which allowed for more time to explore. The first night we just did the typical American thing and hit the local 5 star European hotel for a dose of home. Can't say I'm too proud of this, but if felt good. Luck for my group we were the first off the boat, and were able to catch the first van out into town (we packed it). Something nice about the tropics and a beer by the pool.

On a side note - On the way out of the pier area we saw some of our crewmates that were walking off the base. That was a big mistake, in my opinion (imo). Let me just say that rich Westerners walking on the streets of Dakar is like the Beatles coming to USA for the first time. There were mobs of people hitting them up to buy stuff.

The next day, I had to get up early since we were off to the Pink Lake. This lake is interesting and is truly pink when you look at it due to the collection of minerals in the water. The lake is home to a small salt mining business, where the locals are out in the lake chopping up salt from the bottom and bring it to shore on their boats. Kind of sad that the lake is shrinking and might be completely gone at some point in the future. Water resources are a big problem in a lot of Africa and are the root cause of a lot of conflict.

This site is also the location of the end of the Paris to Dakar rally and we were able to visit the dunes where the race ends. The put us on these troop transports that were pretty fun and we proceeded to drive around the lake and hit the beach. I thought we were going to flip over at one point as we went down one of the dunes that was amazingly steep.

Overall Dakar was a great trip and I guess similar to other developing countries. I was still shocked at the difference between the rich and poor. The lack of a middle class is still a problem in so many countries. Well I could go on for pages about developmental issues, but I will not. Suffice to say, I have learned a lot on this trip about the needs of the world.

Take care of yourselves, and keep taking your own personal adventures (big or small).

I can't wait for Mark to see this

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 18:11:00 +0100

Kati Maya and I decided to take it easy today and do as Limor suggested, "Relax and feel at home." I actually took a nap wen Kati Maya took her morning nap. I read during her afternoon (which we enjoyed on the covered porch of he house). We enjoyed a tour of Nahalal on foot as it is only 1Km to diameter, I think, ate as part of the family at lunch, and ate fabulous hummus with Giya at an Arabic restaurant that "makes better hummus than me" according to Giya.

The tour of Nahalal made me think of the kind of place Mark idealizes: a community, walkable to places, that produces its own food. This isn't exactly the same, but close. We went to the dairy where the cows are milked 4 at a time with a machine.

At home with the Regevs, at last

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 22:03:00 +0100

Maybe we wouldn't be so tired if we hadn't woken up at 0500, changed planes in Zurich without even a bathroom break, or if it hadn't taken 2 hours to find a car rental agency who could properly install a child restraint seat. I might not be so tired if I could have slept when Kati Maya slept. But, all of that is nether here nor there becausewe are here, with our wonderful and generous friends, and planning to see Nazareth tomorrow.

We had an excellent flying experience complete with no crying (EVER), child souviners from the flight staff (a finger puppet and a bib), and a personal in-flight entertainment. The only thing I would have liked, was to finish the movie I was watching, A Good Year.

The slap in the face came when we stepped off the aircraft. "The elevator is no working, so we can't bring you your stroller...Not everyone can ride in the car to immigration...We are not responsible for the installation of the car seat." Thank goodness for Limor. I was calm and laughing slightly through the first two statements. SO that I don't have to live the whole situation again, it took AVIS 1.5 hours and the whole office staff to install a car seat. Limor decided to explore our optionsand found the HERTZ could basically match the Avis contract and kne how to install, adjust, and accomidate a child restraint seat without any problems. Lesson learned, bring your own car seat no matter the cost or inconvenience.

The important thing is we are finally here with our friends the Regevs. We know them from when we were both living in Maryland. The are Israeli, but living in the USA for Jonathan's work. They are now back living in Israel in a beautiful house within the unique community of Nahalal

Kati Maya CRAWLS

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 10:49:00 +0100

Pompei

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 15:27:00 +0100

We are connected......dial our Vonage number at (919) 341-8977 to reach us in Italy!!!

We found out that this weekend that the archaeological sites in the area were free to the public. We decided to hit Pompei today and something else on Sunday. After collecting our things and hitting the road, we arrived near the entrance to the site. Guys were literally jumping out into the road to try to ensure we parked in their lot. Crazy! After a little searching we found a nice spot, paid a few Euro, and headed out.

Ann is a little out of shape as you can see.

This site was huge and we didn't even see everything, but what we saw was very impressive. Amazing what they could do 2000 years ago! What amazed Ann the most is they are still excavating both sites. We were able to see some of the work in progress.

Not sure which site we like better Pompei or Ercolinium. Both are great in there own way.

On the way home, we picked up some things for brunch on Sunday. Also, we were pulled in by some great prices on wine at a local shop. We will be having some friends over before heading out to Cuma or Baia in the afternoon. Hope all is well in your neck of the woods.