Laguna Beach, California

Time has gone quickly since Dave and I returned from our Seychelles trip. After just three weeks we headed back to the U.S. as Dave had a global HR meeting located in none other than Laguna Beach, California. The meetings were being held at the beautiful Montage Resort which sits right on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. We saw whales, porpoises, and seals along the coast. Our sisters, Amy and Lisa, were able to join us….ok, they actually joined ME as Dave was busy pretty much every day all day. It’s always nice to have a buddy or two to hang with.

In order to make getting around easier, I booked a rental car - Toyota Camry. It was a perfectly good car, but it just didn’t really fit in with the other cars pulling into the resort for valet parking, which included Bentleys, Mercedes, Lexus’s, Jaquars, Aston Martin, and others that I was SURE were way out of my league. I told the valet drivers time and time again that it was the powder blue BENTLEY, not Camry, but they always brought out my car.

And, we didn’t just see these luxury cars at the resort, but up and down Pacific Coast Highway. Everywhere we turned there was a lavish car. I know the economy is bad in many, many places throughout the U.S., but it wasn’t evident in this area of California.

Before Dave had to begin work on Monday, the four of us golfed at the Aliso Creek Golf Course just minutes from the ocean and our resort. It is a short nine hole golf course carved among the walls of the Aliso Canyon. The canyon takes a dogleg left at the end of the 1^st hole, and let me tell you….the wind HOWLS at the convergence of the two canyons.  The day was cool and pretty windy, but not enough to stop us from golfing around twice!

Because we were so close to San Diego, the girls and I headed down to Sea World one day. It’s always been one of my favorite places as I'm fascinated with the whales, dolphins, and sea lions. Strangely enough, we also ran across a legless lizard from Europe (not literally). One of the animal handlers had her out in a grassy area. It basically looked like a snake.

I was disappointed because the dolphin and killer whale (Shamu) shows seemed to be more about the acrobats and costumes than it did about the animals. During past visits I always remembered learning lots about the animals; their habits, how they came to be at the park, and other interesting facts.  The Clyde and Seamore (sea lion) show was really lame as the animals were NOT cooperating. It was more like watching humans trying to fill air time! Ha ha!

When looking at the park’s website I see that some of these more “informational” shows are seasonal, so I suspect that is the reason. On the other hand, we had perfect weather and absolutely no crowds.

We all thoroughly enjoyed the “Pets Rule show,” which actually had absolutely nothing to do with sea life at all. Instead they were dogs, cats, ostriches, and a pig or two. We were sort of awestruck by the fact that CATS were trained….and they were WELL trained!

One day we just hung by the pool, not far from the ocean. We were even witnesses to a small wedding that was held on the grounds of the resort….all sitting in our lounge chairs. And, of course no trip would be complete without a day of shopping.

After the week in California, Dave and I flew to Reno for a long weekend where we spent time with our four children, son-in-law, grandson, and Dave’s parents. It was a really, really nice weekend. Low stress and lots of time with family. On Mother’s Day we all met at a local park where some of the crowd played a friendly game of volleyball, Duane and Joann cheered on the teams, and Brody and I “roamed” the park, picking up rocks and anything else he could find on the ground. We had a picnic - a VERY rare treat for Dave and I these days. That evening Chap’s parents invited us out to their farm for hot dogs and smores roasted over an open fire, which was fabulous! When we travel people always want to take us to dinner, so a home cooked meal….especially roasted hot dogs….is awesome!!

Just to be clear…we also love eating out as American restaurants are delicious and we are grateful that we have so many friends and family who want to actually eat with us!

A New Kind of Paradise

On Thursday, April 5th, exactly one year after we landed in Accra for Dave’s overseas assignment, we boarded a plane bound for the Seychelle Islands. Having moved to Africa, I have learned more in one year about geography that I have learned (or at least absorbed) in the previous 46 years of my life. Seriously! I had never even heard of the Seychelle Islands before moving to Ghana. One of the nice things about our vacations is that many of the expats have travelled extensively and so we receive lots of advice and recommendations. We know three couples who have visited the Seychelles, and all raved about their experiences.

I always like to include a brief history of the places we visit. I know if I don’t write it down, I won’t remember later, and I find it pretty fascinating. In the early 1814s, there was a struggle between France and Great Britain for the islands. While Great Britain claimed the country, the Seychelles (say-shells) earned their independence in 1976. Socialist rule was brought to a close with a new constitution and free elections in 1993, so you can see that they are really a very young free and democratic society; even more so than Ghana! The Seychelles are made up of more than 100 islands and are located in the Indian Ocean just off the east coast of Africa. They are located just 7 degrees south of the equator, while Ghana is just slightly north of the equator.

The official languages of the Seychelles are English and French, although many, many of the locals speak Creole, which is a version of French. I could pick up a few words (after all I did take three years of worthless French back in high school) from time to time but was thankful for those who spoke fluent English. Historically, the primary industry on the islands was agriculture - cinnamon, vanilla, and coconut. When the Seychelles International Airport opened in 1971, tourists flocked to the islands and quickly took over as the primary source of income for locals. We quickly noticed a strong African influence upon our arrival. In my research I found that when the British gained control of the islands during the Napoleonic Wars, they allowed the French upper class to retain their land. Both the French and British settlers used enslaved Africans, and although the British prohibited slavery in 1835, Africans continued to be enslaved. The Seychelle islands have no indigenous population, so the current population are composed primarily of people who have emigrated (or brought as slaves) to the island.

When we vacationed in Puerto Rico I was intent on finding a souvenir that defined that country and wanted to do the same on this trip. Unfortunately, because the aforementioned issue with no indigenous population, the islands lack a rich culture. So, our souvenirs were quite cheap! We scanned the beach for seashells and coral. Now I wish I would have brought a baggie of sand to put them in….maybe I’ll have to return!!

I originally attempted to book our vacation on my own, as I’ve come to be pretty good at making travel arrangements. However, I quickly concluded this was more than I could handle and it became clear that I needed some professional assistance! My travel agent recommended a beautiful location called Raffles Resort. They have hotels and resorts in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia and come highly recommended. After looking at their website, I was happy to be spending a week in this resort.

When I was trying to book the trip myself, I found a flight that went from Accra to Nairobi, Kenya, and then onto the main island of Mahe (mah-hey), landing in the capital city of Victoria. My travel agent, however, booked us through Dubai. In hindsight, I wish we would have gone with Kenya Airlines as the time in the air would have been considerably less, although we would have had to spend an overnight in Nairobi….but hey, it would have given us time to explore. We flew Emirates Airlines from Accra to Dubai. They have the prettiest flight attendants. Really! These ladies are SO classy looking. I took a picture of them while we were awaiting our flight in Accra.

The airline seats were pretty uncomfortable and the leg room was terrible; especially for Dave. The flight to Dubai was just over 8 hours and we landed at 5:30 a.m. The Dubai International Airport is enormous and it was PACKED even as the sun was just coming up over the horizon.

There were people everywhere and they were buying, buying, buying. The airport is well known for its shopping, most of which is duty free. Someday I intend to return to Dubai and spend a week exploring (oh, and Dave intends to do so as well because he’s an excellent follower!).

With all of the commerce, you would think we’d be able to find an Egg McMuffin. Nope. We were in Terminal 3 and the only fast food restaurant we came upon was Burger King and there was NO breakfast menu. There were, however, lots of people chowing down on Whoppers and French fries….at 6:30 a.m. Go figure. Our stomachs just weren’t up for that kind of cuisine that early in the morning.After buying some of our own alcohol and snacks to take with us, we took a seat and waited for our next flight, which was also on Emirates.

We arrived in Mahe at a little after 1 p.m. (it’s four hours ahead of Accra, ten ahead of Colorado, and 11 ahead of our family in Nevada. The airport in Victoria is very tiny, especially when you look back at the huge plane in which we arrived. We were greeted by a 7◦ South representative who quickly took us through immigration and customs. Here are a couple of pictures of the Victoria Airport.

We had a slight anxiety attack while waiting for our luggage as they were some of the very last pieces to come off the enormous plane.

The representative guided us to our next location where we boarded a very small plane that would take us to our final destination of Praslin (Prah-lynn). Once we (all of about 10 of us) were all seated, the pilot started up the engines, turned around to us and said, “Ready?” and off we went. The 15 minute flight was hot (absolutely no air in the plane), but the time went quickly as we travelled over the blue and translucent Indian Ocean. A second 7◦ South representative met us after we landed and drove us to

the other side of the island to our home for a week, Raffles Resort. We were met at the “Arrival Pavilion” by resort personnel and treated like royalty. As we took some time to gaze out over the beautiful ocean, we saw three very large yachts. They are pretty hard to spot in this picture, but trust me....they were out there, and they were big!

We were told that the one on the right belongs to a Russian family, the middle by the Emir of Quatar and the one on the left was the Emir’s second yachy (one was hauling his sea “toys” like jet skis, etc.). Do you think there might be a bit of money coming into the Seychelles?? The view was stunning. The water is so beautiful and very calm. The islands rise majestically out of the ocean and tranquility just radiates. The island in the background is Curieuse Island. It looked to have a really beautiful, sandy beach, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to explore and find out more.

We were introduced to our private butler, Suranga (sur-ahn-guh) who took us to our villa, #183. This is Dave standing in front of our villa....not Suranga!

Surango is from Sri Lanka, and the guy LOVES to talk. His accent is thick and we had a difficult time following him at times, but nonetheless, he was at our beck and call. Raffles boasts 86 private villas and is located on a hillside. There are paved trails that traverse the property and guests and workers alike primarily move from place to place in what they call buggies, or what we Americans refer to as golf carts!

Dave and I often chose to walk to and from the pool/beach/restaurant on most days, and I think the staff thought we were crazy as the walking can get a bit difficult with the hills. But, we rarely get to walk in the country in which we are living due to all of the traffic, so we embraced the opportunity to be a little more active.

Our villa was outstanding. It was clean, comfortable, and functional. Everything (other than the VCR on the last day) worked perfectly. It was in a great location with no other Villa barely even in sight. The deck area was fantastic. LOVED, LOVED, LOVED sitting out on the deck in the morning and stepping into the plunge pool when we got hot, which was often as the sun is very intense that close to the equator.

We also thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful night time skies every evening. On this particular evening, we watched a beautiful full moon rise over the Praslin Island hills.

We downloaded a “Planet” app onto my iPad, which allowed us a 3D guide to the solar system. We may be nerds, but were thoroughly entertained and fascinated. Again….in Accra I rarely even see the nighttime skies (Dave sees them on his drive home). And, even when you do, between the pollution, humidity, and lights….there’s not a whole lot to see!

We were somewhat disappointed with the lack of meal options. The Raffles website boasted three restaurants and three bars. The Curieuse Restaurant was open daily. It was primarily a seafood restaurant, although they did offer a few meat and vegetarian items. Neither Dave nor I are seafood eaters, but knew that we could access the other restaurant for more choices - the Losean. However, the Losean was only scheduled to be open on two evenings (although it was scheduled to be open every morning for breakfast). The website says it was open daily. That really limited our options. I suspect it has something to do with the lack of guests but when we asked about it the staff would sidestep our questions.

To make matters worse (in terms of eating), on Easter Sunday the resort lost the use of one of their generators, causing some additional problems. Unfortunately, the Easter holiday made it even more difficult to get an engineer on site to fix the problem. Because of the loss of the generator, all of the breakfasts scheduled at the Losean Restaurant were moved to the Curieuse. The Losean breakfast was buffet style with many options. The Curieuse was much more limited and the staff seemed very, very out of sorts. It seems that they should have had a contingency plan for something like this, but it was obvious this was the first time it had occurred. This also meant that there was no in-room dining (which was a much more basic menu of nachos, pizzas, etc.), no services at Losean (so it was only actually open one day during our entire stay), no access to the bars or to the Tamaka Lounge. All in all, it really limited access for all guests. With that being said, the resort did provide each of the guests with a 75 euro per day credit to our accounts. We did appreciate that, but frankly we would have loved to have enjoyed the overall experience....but some things are simply out of their control.

The fitness gym was small but functional. It was clean, cool, and empty! I was planning on taking advantage of the beauty salon, but was informed upon our arrival that there was no hairdresser on site. Again....their website indicates that service is available. The Raffles Resort is a five star resort, but we didn't feel like we received five star service in the restaurants. We've stayed at five star hotels in London and the U.S. where staff provided true five star service. Our every need was addressed. Raffles staff is VERY, VERY nice, but they didn't always provide the same information. In some ways it felt like the resort had opened only recently, and we really felt the Ghanaian influence. One of many examples: The first evening of the "loss of power" we sat down for dinner at Curieuse. We were one of the first guests and our waiter asked us if he could also bring us the dessert menu at the same time as the dinner menu. We, of course, said that would be fine, but we felt like he was already hurrying us. We received our meals promptly, as well as our dessert. But, we waited more than 30 minutes for our bill and finally had to wave down a waiter. In the meantime, we sat at the table with no water, no wine. If nothing else...we could have had an additional glass of wine. This is not five star service. They are all really little things, but those little things add up over a week's time.

Dave and I decided that we would try and get scuba certified while on our trip, so I booked the training with Octopus Diving. We were picked up by a taxi on our first full day in the Seychelles and were transported to the Octopus Diving Center where we met our instructor, Juliette. Juliette is just 20 years old with a beautiful smile. She was born and raised right there on the Praslin Island. She was an excellent instructor and made both Dave and I feel very comfortable in the water.

On our first day she taught us the basics of scuba diving while sitting in the Center. After a couple of hours she taught us how to assemble our gear and then the three of us walked from the Center down a block to the swimming pool where we would do our first dive. The thing I found most surprising of ALL of scuba diving was how heavy the tanks are! I consider myself in shape, and my legs were shaking by the time we got to the pool! Making our first dive in the pool was perfect as it helped ease our fears and anxieties about scuba diving. We spent the rest of the day at the pool practicing the basic elements of diving. Juliette was very patient with us, and (if you know my husband) was kept on her toes by Dave and his humor!

On Easter Sunday, we took a taxi to the other side of the island where we spent a day golfing at the Lemuria Resort.

Side note here. Our driver’s name was Selby. He is also a native of the island, has three children (21, 15, and 6). When he was a child he was adopted by a woman who raised him. He came back to the Island to take care of her (she is now 88 years old). In addition to driving his taxi, he also maintains a small farm on his land. He sells his produce to local hotels and resorts. He was a genuinely nice man who obviously works very hard. Our only criticism of him would be that he proceeded to tell us about the recent (year ago) shark attacks that had occurred just off the beaches of the Praslin Island. In that sense, he wasn’t a great ambassador for his country….especially since he was transporting two people learning to scuba dive in those shark infested waters!!

Back to the golf course: The course was spectacular, especially after having golfed in Ghana most recently. When we arrived, the gentleman checking us in asked if we had brought golf balls, to which we answered, “yes.” What he failed to ask was, “Do you have ENOUGH golf balls?” By the time we got to the 6th hole, it was quite clear to us that the nine golf balls we brought with us were not going to be sufficient enough to even finish out the front nine holes!! The golf course is lined with water and the fairways were extraordinarily narrow. Here is Dave hitting our last ball off of the 6th hole tee box!

The back nine holes are hillier, and were a bit kinder to us. At the 15th hole we soaked in one of the most gorgeous views I have ever seen.

It was absolutely stunning! Here we are overlooking Anse Georgette (Anse is French for “beach”). The hole sits atop a hill and the hole is WAY down there to the right of us. At some point we sort of stopped counting our shots and just enjoyed the experience.

Below is me pointing back up the hill from which we just hit. Lucky me....I hit the green. Poor Dave....he hit one into the trees and another into the lily pond!

Our next dive was on Monday, and this time we were taken by boat to a dive site not far from the beach (5 minute boat ride) with others who were also receiving instruction. While our time in the pool with Juliette just included Dave and I, she now had three additional students. On our first dive, we basically just swam around at about 10 meters down, getting use to the environment and the difference from the pool (like you can’t just stand up!). We saw two reef sharks, a turtle, and a jackfish, which was basically just an enormous fish! Surprisingly, we weren’t afraid at all of the two sharks.

After returning to the beach and eating a quick lunch, we headed back out for our second dive of the day where we adventured a bit further from the island. During this dive we went back to practicing the required elements of the course including clearing our mask, removing and replacing our mask, and buddy breathing.

We took a break from scuba diving on Tuesday and decided to spend the day at the beach on our resort. Unfortunately, there was a lot of seaweed both in the water and on the beach and so we ended up moving up to the pool area. (Look at the picture….don’t feel too bad for us!)

Wednesday was our last scheduled day of diving. During our morning dive we saw an Eagle Ray and again, more fish and practiced many of the skills we learned in the pool. After lunch, we were on the boat getting ready to go out for our very last dive. Thereafter, all we had to do to get PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Certified was to take a few quizzes and a final exam. Everyone except Juliette was on the boat. She had forgotten something and had to return to the dive shop. The engines were on, our gear was loaded, and we were ready to get to the dive site. As Juliette came down the beach toward the water, she was stopped by a gentleman. She returned to the dive shop when the co-manager (Flo) came out to the beach and made the “stop dive” sign. We all groaned….we so wanted to dive. Evidently, Indonesia experienced an earthquake, and subsequently a tsunami alert was announced in the Seychelle Islands!! The Seychelles were hit with a Tsunami in 2006, so the locals are very sensitive and reactive to the alerts. Having said that, we did not move to higher ground. In fact, we stayed right there on the beach and took our quizzes and final exam!

At one point during our test taking, we observed Flo’s wife get into an argument with the locals. (Flo and his family are French.) The locals had moved their boat from the water onto the beach….right in front of the dive shop. Flo’s wife was asking them to move the boat to a better location. You know….in case the tsunami hit the boat which would then be thrown directly into the dive shop building (and Dave and I!!!). It was actually quite comical as the Frenchwoman displayed her temper, and we observed the reaction of the locals.

Because we were called back to shore prior to our final dive, we returned to the Octopus Dive Center on Thursday afternoon and dove with Flo. When we discovered we wouldn’t be diving with Juliette, we sort of looked at each with a bit of panic in our eyes. However, Flo ended up being another fabulous instructor. After completing our final two skills, he guided us around a reef where we saw an enormous (and scary looking) moray eel, a couple of turtles, another eagle ray, and so much more. He took us under ledges and through crevices, which ensured we practiced our buoyancy control. After only 35 minutes we had to ascend to the top, as Dave was running low on air. It was another fabulous afternoon of diving. We were now officially PADI certified and can dive anywhere in the world!

On our final day, the resort allowed us to remain in our villa until our pick up at 6 p.m. As a result, we headed back to the beach, which was free of seaweed.

Dave wanted to do nothing more than sit in his lounge chair, rest, and read. I headed out to the water to snorkel as I just couldn’t get enough of the underwater world. After circling the rocks shown in this picture, I came out of the water and encouraged Dave to join me. He just had to see the cool looking trumpetfish!

The water was so clear and warm and was all done in relatively shallow water no more than 30 feet from shore. We were astounded at the variety of fish in just this one little area. When we would lie quietly at the surface, the fish would move towards us, and in no time at all we would be surrounded. Shortly after we got out of the water, the rain came. It was pouring. Neither one of us even considered looking for shelter. Instead, we waded in the water and walked down the beach, fascinated by the tropical world. There was not another soul on the beach. It was one of the most tranquil memories I have of our trip.

All good things must come to an end, and so the 7◦ South representative picked us up at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 13th to transfer us back to the airport for our short flight back to the Mahe Island. This time we had a few hours to kill in the Victoria airport, which is mostly situated outdoors. We played several hands of gin, had a couple of final Seybrew beers, and reflected on our amazing week.

Other than the limited meal options, there was only one other thing that happened while we were on our vacation that was disturbing. Dave and I were sound asleep Saturday evening (I think it was Saturday, I’ve tried to block it out of my mind) when what Dave thought was an alarm went off. He was obviously quite confused, and I gently said….”answer the phone.” I quickly looked at the clock and it was about 2:30 a.m. Somehow Dave hit the speaker phone and I heard the operator say, “Mr. Kern, I have an international call for you.” All I could say after that was, “Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!” I was sure someone had died. I was shaking and my heart felt like it was beating out of my chest. Who was it? It was Barry….my brother, and Jimmy….my other brother, and Benjamin….my son, my mom (who insisted she had no part in this), and my dad….well, he’s my dad. They were celebrating Easter dinner and they decided to give us a call and see how our vacation was going. Not sure how much alcohol had been consumed, but too much. Family: I know you all just wanted to check on us, but you scared the living hell out of me!! All is forgiven….but that doesn’t mean I don’t hold a grudge….and paybacks can be hell!

I can’t say enough about how much I enjoyed scuba diving. I was a little anxious and was worried that I might begin the course and then wonder why in the hell I was spending so much money to become certified after one day. But, all of my concerns were quickly laid to rest the first time I went under the water in the swimming pool. And, once we moved to the beautiful ocean, I could have kicked myself for waiting 47 years to learn! Scuba diving is like being in a big aquarium (Dave’s wonderful analogy). There are SO many different types of sea life; big fish, little fish, colored fish, eels, turtles, sharks, sea urchins, starfish, and so many other animals for which I have no name! It was one of the most fascinating things I have ever experienced, and cannot WAIT to jump back in on our next vacation, part of which will be in Zanzibar, another tropical island in the Indian Ocean!!

One Year Down, Two to Go!

Today, April 1st, marks our one year anniversary in Ghana. In reality, our adventure began in November 2010 when Dave told me he was interested in exploring an overseas assignment in Ghana. My initial reaction was that of curiosity and possibilities. If nothing else, I was looking forward to an opportunity to travel to Ghana with no commitment.

Last week a couple from Battle Mountain arrived in Accra for their look see. They are in a similar situation as Dave and I were in when we first began considering a change. With the exception of a few years, Joel and Bernadette have lived their entire lives in Nevada. Family is important to them, and a part of their daily lives. A move to Africa would be a big adjustment for them. I was asked to take Bernadette around while Joel was interviewed. On the first day she looked tired and overwhelmed. I distinctly remember that feeling - what in the world was I thinking? But, by the end of the week I could see a difference in her (sleep can do that for a person), and she looked much more comfortable in this strange, new environment. Regardless of what she and Joel decide to do, I believe they soaked up the experience. I have said, and will continue to preach, that everyone should leave the comfort of their American homes at least once and experience how others live. It can be humbling, and will make one grateful for the things he/she has.

Our first year has gone amazingly quick, and it certainly helps that my schedule allows for full flexibility. I know that some of my friends must work around their children’s school schedules and are oftentimes left in Ghana alone while their spouses travel.

I continue to golf every Wednesday with a group of ladies, and is without question one of the highlights of my week. I enjoy getting outside, even though it can be suffocatingly hot, humid, and smelly. We have also started golfing on Sundays with another couple, and it’s an activity I look forward to each week. Golf makes me think of home, and is comfortable; albeit the courses in NO way remind me of home! Conversation between those with whom I golf is easy.

I joined a Book Club here in Ghana, and have attended two of their meetings. I’m not completely sold on this group as I don’t quite feel like I fit in; time will tell. I can assure you that there is no way I laugh as much over here as I do when my Elko Book Club convenes! However, I have read two books that I never would have even picked up, and that is one of the driving forces that keeps me going back. Dave and I just started watching the Showtime series, “Tudors,” and I actually understand what is going on based on the first book we read about King Henry VIII!

This week I attended my first Friday morning Canasta group. This is another group of women who have been getting together for several years to play the card game. Very nice ladies, and we were able to share some salads, sweets, and conversations. But, again….it’s different. Most of the women are from the UK and I sometimes find it difficult to engage in their conversation. As should be expected, they discuss current events in the UK, which I am mostly ignorant, including reality TV shows, current trends, and popular entertainment. I don’t always understand their “lingo.” For example, they were discussing how when they visit the U.S. they are always sure to pick up several “trainers.” They went on and on about it and I finally asked what “trainers” were….they are tennis shoes; Nike, Reebok, Adidas….you know….athletic shoes! Also, since they have been playing cards together for so long, there is a general connection that is lacking for me. Hopefully, time will take care of that issue.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a NAWA (North American Women’s Association) lunch. It was informal, and just an opportunity to get out of the house for an afternoon. I met three women - two from the U.S. and one from the UK. Mary is probably 60 years old. She volunteers at an orphanage here in Accra called The Beacon House. http://beaconhouseghana.blogspot.com/2012/03/educational-sponsorship-for-children-in.html.
Mary explained that The Beacon House often takes in children who are either physically or mentally disabled. While I have been told otherwise, she insists that Ghanaians are open to adopting healthy children, while those who have health concerns are rarely adopted locally. As we were talking I heard some noise on the other side of the table. I leaned over and saw the cutest little boy in a stroller. Meet Lewis.

Lewis was abandoned by his mother, likely because of a serious orthopedic issue (I believe Mary said he was born with his leg broken and bent over his shoulder). She said that when he was brought to the orphanage it was obvious that he needed personal and round-the-clock care, so….she took him home. Lewis has lived with Mary and her husband since he was born last July. The good news is that Lewis is being adopted by an American couple from the state of Washington. Mary basically acts as the liaison between the Ghananian and U.S. governments, and the couple. As I wrote in a previous blog, adopting Ghanaian children is never easy. Things take time….lots of time in Ghana. Mary and her husband are scheduled to leave Ghana for a life of retirement in June, but she insists she will not leave Lewis until the adoption has been completed and he is in the arms of his new parents.

I told her how much I admired her for her sacrifice, but she wouldn’t hear of it, saying that she only did what anyone else would do. I also indicated to Mary that I was interested in volunteering if there was a need, but explained that I travel pretty extensively. I told her that I would call her, and have had it in the back of mind. Well, last week Mary placed an advertisement in the monthly NAWA newsletter asking for help in putting together a photo montage that will be played on a screen during a presentation that is being made in the U.S. for funding. I called her up and volunteered my services. So, after our vacation next week, I’ll be heading over to The Beacon House to give a little of my time. Hopefully, it will open some other volunteering doors for me.

I find that many of the women I meet here are overseas lifers, as I like to call them. They have lived the majority of their married lives following their husbands who are employed overseas. Many of them have raised their children in much different environments than we raised ours. Dave and I are very fortunate because our living arrangements are comfortable - we have a driver, a housekeeper, and people within the company (IT and site services, in particular) who seem to drop what they are doing when I present them with an issue. We are well aware that there are many people who may not think we are experiencing the true Africa, and they are right. There are lots of people who come to Africa without the indulgences we have, and I concur. However, I don’t feel it has changed the experience for us. It is still unique and special to us.

We have met so many really wonderful people, and our view of the world has expanded like I never even imagined. We both keep up on the local news in Elko via the Elko Daily Free Press website. The USA Today website keeps us connected to the nation’s top news, and I still listen to Dave Pratt Live every day to get my daily dosage of the good old U.S. of A. On the other hand, we are now SO much more aware of what is happening throughout the world, in particular in Africa. The coup in Mali was huge news last week. Newmont actually had a geologist stranded there and one of our friends was responsible for getting him out of the country safely. He takes his job seriously and was up every hour, on the hour for a couple of days getting updates on his progress. Mali is a couple of countries north of Ghana, so not to worry…we are as safe as we can be right here in Accra.

If Dave would ever contribute to this blog, I think he would say that he has been challenged by the different work culture, in particular when addressing an employee issue. What would seem to be a rather straight forward discipline solution in the U.S. can have multiple, and unforeseen, obstacles in Ghana. This could include curses, village Chiefs, and other cultural characteristics. I think that sometimes he feels he’s not accomplishing very much, but I know that’s not true. One of his managers told me that he’s the best thing that ever happened to Africa, and I didn’t even pay her to say that! He has a good team that works with and for him. His boss here in Ghana is supportive and they share many of the same philosophies, as well as frustrations. I think they compliment each other and draw off of each other’s strengths. The experiences he is gaining in this assignment will serve him well regardless of where the next move takes us.

Best Things About Moving to Ghana
I no longer have to work full-time. I am glad I have a way to stimulate my mind a few hours a day through my contract with the Elko County School District, but I do not miss the day to day grind of working.

We have a great circle of friends; ones who we consider to be our expat family.

I thoroughly enjoy talking to people from other countries and learning more about their cultures.

We are learning so much about Ghana, Africa, and the world as a whole.

Both Dave and I have acclimated to the weather quite nicely, and have decided that warm weather is the way to go!

Travel, travel, travel. I love the travelling opportunities we’ve had. I told my side of the family that I would be seeing them more than I ever did when we were living in the U.S., and that has been proven true! I think I might actually see Benjamin more during the school year than he sees his dad, who is living in Elko. In addition to our standard trips to Nevada and the Denver area, we were able to get to San Francisco, Virginia, and my 3rd trip to Washington, D.C. in one year!

Daniel, Melissa, and Benjamin met us in London, which included a trip into the beautiful country of Ireland. After Christmas, Benjamin and Melissa went with us to Puerto Rico for a very relaxing and sunny week in a tropical location.

I have already booked our next three vacations which will begin next Thursday! We are headed to the beautiful Seychelle Islands for a week. In August three of our four kids will join us in Accra for a few days before we take off for an African safari in Tansania followed by some more beach time in Zanzibar. And finally, we will join my parents and Dave’s son, Daniel, for a Mediterranean cruise that begins in Athens, Greece and includes ports of call in Italy, France, and Spain. In between all of that traveling, we will be returning to the states at least three times.

Frustrating Things About Ghana
Being so far away from family. Having said that, thank GOD for technology. We have fairly reliable Internet service, regularly Skype, and with Whatsapp, can text our families for free. Five years ago this frustration would have been more than just an annoyance; I think it would have made the move unbearable.

I am SO over flying overseas. It is so exhausting for me, and I do not handle jet lag very well. I wish I was one of those people who could sleep anywhere, but I’m not. It always takes me several days to recover, and it can be torturous (I might be being a little over dramatic here)!

Some days are just difficult, and oftentimes it’s just the little things. Here’s an example: The Friday Canasta get together includes a potluck lunch, so I offered to bring a broccoli salad. I had all of the ingredients, which is not always the case. The broccoli, raisins, and onions were all placed in the big bowl; all that was left were the walnuts. When one of the expats moved last summer, she gave me a baggie full of walnuts, and I pulled them from my cupboard, laid them out on the cutting board, chopped them up and scooped them into the salad. When I looked back at the cutting board, there were little black bugs jumping all over!! First, I about barfed, because I had put a handful of the walnuts in my mouth! I threw the contents in the garbage, spit out what was left in my mouth, and proceeded to make a batch of sugar cookies from the box.

Living in Ghana as a spouse, especially without children, can get downright lonely. I am used to working in an office where a little less interaction would have been nice from time to time. As an introvert, I have had to force myself to take advantage of situations that require interaction. It’s one thing to hang out with friends - that’s easy. It’s going to lunches, Book Club, Canasta, and NAWA meetings where you have to make an effort to make conversation. Dave works very long hours and his days are full of constant interaction. Some nights he has phone meetings with people from other regions that begin late at night and even end early the next morning. He has to have time to re-energize and that calls for peace and quiet, which I can appreciate.

Mosquitos - neither Dave nor I have contracted malaria, but they sure do love to bite me.

Traffic - driving in Ghana is an interesting experience. There are unwritten rules of the road, and I’m glad we have Michael to navigate us through the Ghanaian world of traffic!

Smelly - Ghana smells like a big sewer; some places worse than others. After Canasta the other day I was standing on the street waiting for Michael to come and pick me up, and the smell was overwhelmingly disgusting!

In addition to my family, I miss my cat. I miss my house. I miss working in my yard. I miss having my house all to myself. As nice as it is to have someone to clean, it means that I’m rarely alone in my own house. I miss all of the conveniences that Americans take for granted. But, at the end of the day Dave and I wouldn’t go back and change our path. We would come to Ghana all over again. We are two very lucky people who are trying to take advantage of a unique opportunity that came our way. Some days are better than others, but the good thing is….we are leaving for a beautiful tropical location in four days!! Here's a view of our resort from their website.

A Ghanaian Engagement

I am one lucky woman. I have a housekeeper that comes into my home every single day. I’m pretty sure Dave and I don’t make enough garbage/laundry/mess to keep her busy, but nonetheless, she is there daily. Charity is a single mother of Emmanuel “Akufo” Angong. Charity’s nephew, Evans, also lives with her. I innocently thought that something had happened to Evans’ mother, and that Charity had taken him in. Nope. When Charity delivered Akufo it was decided, by the family evidently, that Evans would come to live with she and Akufo to help. I can’t be 100% sure, but I believe that Evans takes care of Akufo while Charity is at my house (and they aren’t in “school”). Akufo turned three in November and Evans was 13 in October.

That's Evans in the middle and Akufo on the right. Gillian, another one of Charity's nephews I believe, is on the left.

Charity has maintained a relationship with Akufo’s father, Enoch. She told me some time ago that it was necessary that she got married, because in her words, “It is not acceptable for me to be a mother with no husband.” I assured her that it didn’t matter what others thought, and that it was more important that she is happy with her life. In August, Charity informed me that she was going to get engaged in October, but some other things came up and she told me the engagement party had been postponed.

When Dave and I returned to Accra from Puerto Rico, she had left us an invitation to her engagement party. The party was to take place in Mepe in the Volta Region of Ghana on Saturday, January 14th at 9 a.m. PROMPT. I asked Michael what time we should leave the house in order to arrive “promptly” at 9 a.m., and he recommended we leave no later than 7:30 a.m. The drive to the Volta Region was uneventful, and we drove into town around 9:15 a.m. Michael called Charity as he didn’t know exactly where in Mepe we needed to go. As we were driving along, we drove alongside Charity, who was walking alongside the road. Yep. It was 9:15 a.m. and Charity wasn’t even at the house where the ceremony would be held.

Even though I KNEW the party wouldn’t begin at 9 a.m., the American in me simply wouldn’t allow me to be late. What we were about to experience, was a true cultural Ghanaian event.

The engagement party was to be held at the home of Charity’s parents. Since we had plenty of time on our hands prior to the ceremony, we were first taken to the backyard and introduced to several members of Charity’s family. We then were requested to return “inside,” as I think the family felt it was unacceptable for us to be out in the heat. So….back inside we went to sit with all of the others who were promptly in attendance.

After about 30 minutes, Charity came out of the room in which she had been coming and going and told us that one of her brothers, Paul, was going to take us around to some of the sites of Mepe. The first place we visited was the Joy Beach Resort which is located on the banks of the River Volta, and flows from Lake Volta.

Lake Volta is the largest reservoir by surface area in the world, and is the fourth largest by water volume. The river is extremely wide, and the only way to the other side is by canoe. Charity later told me that the village in which she grew up is located directly across from the Joy Beach Resort (off in the distance).

Paul next took us to the Masito Royal Palace, a very popular hotel in Mepe. I’m not sure what made this a special place, but he was very proud to show it off to us!

After our two stops, we travelled back to the house where we waited for at least two hours, We observed people coming in and out of the room off of the area in which Dave and I were located. We basically made observations and enjoyed the cool breeze coming in through the window behind us.

At some point during our two hour wait, Charity came out to assure us that the party would begin soon. Enoch and his family were “on their way coming,” (a common phrase in Ghana). It really has no meaning, to be quite honest. The groom and his family were driving in from Accra (just as Michael, Dave and I did….on time). At about 11:30 a.m. Charity told us that they were close, but that the trotro had blown a tire. Enoch and his family arrived in Mepe at approximately NOON!

Engagement parties in Ghana are basically what Americans consider a wedding. First, the bride’s family enters the room. Charity’s father is quite old and in ill health. As a result, her uncle (father’s brother) represented the family - that’s him in the black and white traditional cloth. Next to him sits her Auntie (father’s sister), her mother, and another Auntie (mother’s sister). The man standing in white was the Master of Ceremonies, Ebeneezer. Yes, folks…Ghanaian engagements require MCs.

The bride’s family was in the room for at least 30 minutes prior to the trotro arriving up with Enoch and his family. After much movement, the groom’s family finally made their entrance with an abundance of singing and chanting. The bride’s family would answer with their own songs. We have no idea what was being sung/said as it was being done so in two tribal languages - Twi and Ewe (air-way). As you can see from the pictures, everyone was dressed in very traditional clothing. As I’m always saying…Ghana is very colorful.

The bride’s family sat on one side of the room, while the groom’s sat on the opposite side. Uncomfortable as it was, Dave and I were basically placed right in between the two families and behind the bride and groom.

To begin the ceremony, the pastor gave an opening prayer. Have you ever been to a bible thumping, hands waving type of ceremony? Well, this was one of those. The pastor was, let’s say, very enthusiastic. His prayer lasted a good 7-8 minutes….again, in a language we could not comprehend and with lots of “Jesus, Jesus,” and “Amens.”

The next step in the engagement process is for the groom’s family to present the bride’s family with predetermined gifts; a dowry, so to speak. Charity had told me earlier in the fall that her family had presented Enoch with a list of items that he would have to give to her family before they would allow him to marry her. Enoch’s sister had the list in her hand, and Dave and I were able to peek. Here are a few of the items:
• 200 cedis for the bride
• 50 cedis for the mother of the bride
• 50 cedis for the father of the bride
• 50 cedis for the brothers (split between her three brothers. The sisters did not receive any money - rip off!)
• Case of minerals (water and soda)
• Case of Guiness (yep…beer - my kind of dowry)
• Two bottles of Schnapps
• Sleepwear, slippers, bras, underwear. (These items were in a suitcase which was taken to a back room where it was opened and gifts confirmed by the women.)
• Bible
• Wedding Ring

Charity told me that Enoch also had to present a goat as a fine for getting her pregnant out of wedlock. I never actually saw the goat, but it might have been in one of the pots that was over a fire out back!

The presentation of the gifts was quite theatrical and took a lot of time. Charity’s family speaks Ewe, while Enoch’s family is from the Ashanti Region and speaks Twi. Ebeneezer and Enoch’s sister (I didn’t catch her name) were the main events. Ebeneezer understood both languages, so after Enoch’s sister would say something, Ebeneezer would then turn and translate for Charity’s family. Fortunately, Michael sat next to Dave and I and was able to translate most of the ceremony for us. His first language is Twi, and while he can’t speak Ewe, he can understand most of what was being said. There was much haggling/joking over the items and encouragement to increase the amounts, in the case of money. During this entire time, neither Charity nor Enoch were present.

After the presentation of the gifts, Enoch was brought in and hassled quite vigorously by the bride’s family. They wanted him to pay more money for Charity and to the mother and father. While it was done mostly in jest, there was a definite dark undercurrent in the room.

Eventually Charity was brought out, and took her seat next to Enoch. The pastor gave another enlightening (and long winded) prayer.

That's Charity in the middle with the long hair.

Each were asked, by the pastor, if the other person was the one they wanted to marry, and in typical quiet Ghanaian fashion…I think they both said, “yes.”

Once they established their willingness to get married, Enoch placed the ring on Charity’s finger. They stood up….here it comes….another prayer. Yes, Jesus. Amen. Hallelujia. I think there might have been a song sung at this point. Dave and I, of course, were the only ones who didn’t know the words. Michael was singing at the top of his lungs next to me, stomping his feet, and clapping his hands.

One representative from each side of the family got up and gave advice to the couple. Enoch’s mother and father did not attend the ceremony. His Aunt acted as a representative for his mother, and his cousin….Arnold Schwarzenegger….acted in place of his father. Yes…Arnold Schwarzenegger is alive and well in Mepe, Ghana. Charity told me that his real name is Arnold, and he just added Schwarzenegger. It was obvious that everyone there is well aware of who the real Arnold is. The guy was well dressed and word sunglasses the entire time (indoors). Anyway, Arnold stood up and provided a small piece of advice for the couple, after handing the mother more money.

Dave and I heard from numerous Ghanaians that we were not expected to take a gift to the engagement party. Rather, guests are given a gift from the bride and groom. I felt awkward, and so I had the gift in my purse….just in case. But, sure enough, during the ceremony a couple of Charity’s sisters started handing out the gifts. Everyone in attendance received a bright orange plastic bowl. It’s perfect for my popcorn!

After one more prayer, the ceremony was over. In the eyes of the families, Charity and Enoch were married. They can now live together as a couple. Weddings basically make the union legal. Some couples choose to do this privately, while others hold a second, and equally large, event.

Here we are with the happy couple...at least Charity looks happy!

We took a few pictures in the house before heading down the street to the location of the reception. As you will no doubt notice, we were the only obrunis (white people) at the party. In fact, I’m pretty sure we were the only obrunis in the entire town of Mepe! We were well treated, and many people wanted to take their picture with us. I actually find this quite common when I’m at a gathering of Ghanaians.

As we entered the reception, we were both overwhelmed (but not surprised) by the loud nature of the music. Ghanaians LOVE to listen to their music loudly. We saw the bar, and began to make our way towards it. Ebeneezer, however, cut us off and insisted that we sit down. Drinks would be brought to us. Keep in mind that we had left our house at 7:30 a.m., and other than a bowl of cereal and one bottle of water, had not eaten or drank anything. It was now 3 p.m.

About 20 minutes later, Enoch and Charity made their appearance. Charity had changed her clothes and was wearing an enormous hat. I almost didn’t recognize her!

She was so concerned that we hadn’t eaten, and I told her we would follow her, which we did. Our choices for lunch were 1) rice, 2) a different kind of rice, 3) rice and beans, and 4) chicken. So, we ate rice and chicken. It tasted fine, although I could barely saw through the skin of the chicken. I chalk that up to overcooking, After all, the cook probably understood that prompt meant prompt!

We were seated right next to the bride and groom’s table, although we were uncomfortable doing so. They wanted us to sit directly behind them, along with the parents, but we gently refused and said this was about Charity and her family, not us.

After we ate, we got the distinct impression that people were waiting for us to leave. We had a two hour car ride ahead of us, so I told Dave I was going to use the restroom facilities, which were around the corner. It only took me a glance to decide that there was no way in hell I was going to pee in Mepe; at least not in this “facility.” The bathroom was basically a 2’ x 2’ enclosure with a bit of a drop off at the back (like a baby step). There was no drain….anywhere. No toilet, for that matter. I guess women just squat and pee, like they would in the bush. And, as you can imagine, it stunk to high heaven! We stopped at the beautiful Joy Beach Resort on our way out of town.

About an hour into our trip back home, I began to feel nauseous. By the time I got home, I was full blown sick. I chalk it up to the food. While it tasted ok, I think the combination of the food sitting out for so long and the fact that Ghanaians cook their food in very heavy palm oil, just didn’t sit right with me. Dave eats that stuff every day for lunch at the Newmont mess hall. His gut is used to it!

Dave and I have now attended a funeral and an engagement and have felt honored to have been invited. I’ll leave the food at the door next time!

Next Stop! Puerto Rico!!

As expats, Dave and I are fortunate to have many travel opportunities; in fact, three R&Rs annually. Since we both wanted to go home for Christmas but knew we needed to schedule an R&R, we chose a location halfway between there and here - Puerto Rico, taking Melissa and Benjamin with us.

Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the U.S. The country was originally claimed by Christopher Columbus for Spain. Under Spanish rule the island was colonized and the indigenous population (Tainos) was forced into slavery. After the Spanish-American war, the U.S. acquired Puerto Rico under the Treaty of Paris of 1898. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, which was made legal in 1917. While the U.S. Congress legislates many aspects of life in Puerto Rico, islanders may not vote in U.S. elections. Probably one of the biggest reasons the territory is unwilling to become a state is the fact that Puerto Ricans do not have to pay federal tax. There are two official languages of the islands, Spanish and English.

Our hotel differed from those we’ve stayed at in Mexico in the sense that we were not isolated from the city and culture. The island is relatively small and local life blends right in with the touristy areas. There were plenty of stores and restaurants within walking distance. It seems there was a Walgreens on every corner; more so than Starbucks (although it and Haagen Daas Ice Cream were right across the street). We saw a couple of McDonald’s, but the predominant fast food restaurant in San Juan is most definitely Burger King. We even went to a movie one night at one of the biggest malls I have ever seen!

After leaving Elko on the bright and early 5:50 a.m. flight and a brief stop in Atlanta, we landed in San Juan, Puerto Rico that evening. We took a taxi to our hotel, San Juan Marriott Resort & Stellaris Casino, which was located right on the Atlantic Ocean. We were placed in two corner rooms with two balconies in each room, allowing us a great view of the ocean from one and of the city from the other.

That first evening Dave pointed out a cruise ship just off of the island. Puerto Rico is actually the largest cruise ship port in the world. It is the anchor on Eastern and Southern Caribbean itineraries, as well as a turnaround port for many ships. It is common for people to spend a day in San Juan before and after the ship embarks. We met a couple from San Diego at the bus stop one day who had just returned from a cruise and were spending the tail end of their vacation in San Juan.

Weather.com reports indicated we would have rain every single day of our vacation. The first morning made us think that for once the weather reports were accurate! We woke up to a cloudy, cool morning. On my way to the gym that morning, I met a woman in the elevator who assured me that by noon the sun would be shining and the afternoon would be grand. She was right! Thereafter, most days began in the same way with plenty of sunshine in the afternoons. There were lots of windsurfers and boogie boarders in the ocean, and the waves were a lot of fun! Since we arrived between Christmas and New Year’s there were many families; in particular, those with young children.

We spent the first two days of our vacation totally relaxing on the beach. We were all perfectly content with lying on the beach, reading books, and soaking up the sights and sounds of the activities around us. Martha Mudslide (that’s what Dave calls all of the cocktail waitresses on our beach trips) kept our thirst at bay with a few island concoctions and plenty of beer.

One day while Benjamin, Dave, and I were in the ocean riding the waves, Melissa saw a man caught out on the rocks. The hotel employees try their best to keep people away from them, but sometimes the currents take over and people end up next to them without even realizing.

She yelled for someone to help him, and several people made a human chain to get to him. Fortunately, he was brought ashore safely. He had some minor abrasions and cuts, but all in all, he was probably pretty lucky. The waves on this beach were the biggest I’ve ever seen, and they were SO much fun! On that particular day, both Dave and I got hit with two enormous waves. He thought he broke his back, and I was sure I had a concussion!

New Year’s Eve. After dinner in an Argentinian restaurant down the street, we took a walk in the opposite direction of our hotel where we came upon a number of more upscale stores and hotels. We walked down to the beach and agreed that even though the hotel looked a little nicer, our beach was better. Considering we spent much of our waking time on the beach, I think I made the right choice in accommodations. There were people out on the streets, but the roadway was pretty much void of vehicles. Upon returning to our hotel, we spent a bit of time in the casino playing pennies. I think this was the night that Melissa did quite well, winning over $100. Dave, Benjamin, and I probably made up for it by losing at least that much. Frankly, a casino is a casino….no matter where you’re at - you might as well leave your money at the door!

Our hotel hosted three separate New Year’s Eve parties. The first was in the main lobby area with a live band, champagne, and food. It was expensive - $1,200 per table (up to 8 people). Uh…no. Another party was in one of the hotel’s restaurants downstairs and cost about $170 per person. Again…no. Finally, we found the free party. There were flashing lights, the room was freezing, the music was overwhelmingly loud, and there were but a few people in attendance. In the end we chose to buy some drinks at the bar just outside of the “free” party and returned to one of our rooms to see if we could make it to midnight.

Dave and I encouraged (ok, we sent) Benjamin and Melissa down the street to Walgreens for some after dinner snacks. Now, we aren’t sophisticated drinkers or eaters. We were drinking high balls and beer and eating Doritos and sour punch candy while lying in bed. Yep, all four of us in the King size bed. We pulled the drapes open to the view of the city and had Dick Clark’s Rocking New Year’s Eve on the tube. Oh, and in typical Tony Hilim fashion we were moving between the big ball and Man vs. Food!

As the ball dropped ….wait…let me clarify. Puerto Rico is an hour ahead of NYC, so the ball didn’t officially drop, but we used Dave’s watch to count down. At midnight, fireworks went off all over the city. It was unlike anything I have ever seen. There were some being fired off just over the building in front of us, and we could see the reflection in the windows of the condos across from us that fireworks were being shot off either from the top of our hotel or from another building behind us. Looking into the distance, fireworks erupted all along the horizon. The sound was spectacular, and sounded like gunshots as the noise reverberated against the tall buildings. The fireworks went on for a good 20 minutes.

For us, the party was over. Personally, I was amazed that I actually made it to midnight, especially after a sunny and long day at the beach!

One item on my bucket list includes golfing on 50 different courses, and so hitting the links was high on my list of things to do while in the country. The Plantation Pineapple Golf Course at Dorado Beach was about a 45 minute taxi ride from our hotel. Dorado Beach has two 18 hole courses; Pineapple and Sugarcane. After golfing the last few months in Ghana, this course was pure heaven! I wish I could say that this was one of the pictures I took, but alas, neither Dave nor I can figure out how to download pictures from our stupid U.S. Samsung phones! This picture is from their website.

The sand traps were actual sand, the greens were real grass, and the tee boxes were great! It was a pretty forgiving course, and was perfect for Dave and I (the kids stayed back at the hotel as neither one had any desire to golf). Instead of dodging chickens and cows, we saw lots of iguanas sunning themselves. As we were cleaning out our golf cart, one of the workers pointed to the driving range where Chi Chi Rodriguez and his wife were hitting balls. For the non-golfers, Chi Chi is a very famous Puerto Rican professional golfer. There were several houses surrounding the golf course, but I’m not sure they live in one of them or if they were just hitting some balls. Evidently, he was involved in the redesign of one of the other courses on the island, according to the worker. I thoroughly enjoyed the round, and would have loved to have gone back for a round on Sugarcane.

One day we rented a car and took a drive into the El Yunque Rain Forest, which lies on the eastern side of the Luquillo Mountains. The hotel provided us with directions on how to get to the site. Melissa had her iPhone. The GPS and directions given to us by the hotel didn’t quite match. To say the least, the hotel directions were not complete. We ended up taking a road that was clearly going in the wrong direction, but Melissa guided us back out. We drove a few miles on what I would call “the back roads,” seeing some of Puerto Rico’s finer neighborhoods (yea right).

Google is a wondrous thing. What can’t you find out using google? In fact, I wish my last name WAS google! We wondered what constituted a rain forest, so we googled it. Rain forests have an annual rainfall of at least 100 inches and often much more. Another fun fact I found: Rain forests cover only 6% of the Earth’s surface, but yet they contain MORE THAN ½ of the worlds’ plant and animal species.

After spending a little bit of time at the Information Center, we drove towards the top of the Rain Forest. We stopped at a place where we began an hour long hike to a popular waterfall. It was a pretty walk, but after you’ve seen a few trees and unusual plants, it sort of began to all look the same. We saw absolutely no wildlife; I was hoping to at least see a parrot or two. When we arrived at the waterfall, I was sort of disappointed. I expected something more magnificent.

It was pretty, don’t get me wrong, but it just wasn’t what I was anticipating. The water was not clear, and there were people everywhere. I guess I should have known when it was advertised as the most popular!

After hanging out for a while and getting some nice photo ops, we headed back to the car. We drove all the way to the top, but none of us were too eager to get out and hike again. We did stop at another point and climb to the top of a tower. The view was really pretty as you could see out over the rain forest canopy and all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Side note here: The El Yunque Rain Forest is a result of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. It continues to be maintained by the U.S. Forest Service.

Before heading back to our hotel, we stopped at the public Luquillo Beach; again, another interesting excursion using the two “maps.” It was a nice beach, and reminded me a lot of sitting at the beach in Glendo, Wyoming. The water was calm and clear. There were lots of silver colored fish swimming around our feet, and it pretty much freaked Melissa out enough that she wouldn’t go into the water. Benjamin and I raced out to the buoys surrounding the swimming area. I think I have finally found something that my son gets from me. That boy can swim! He beat me, but not by much….and I gave him a head start!

One afternoon we took public transportation to Old San Juan, a whopping 75¢ per person. The taxi driver who brought us back from the golf course recommended we eat at Café Puerto Rico in Old San Juan. He told us this is the most popular place, and the food was delicious. It was actually one of the first places we saw, and stopped in to get a table. It was only 3:30 p.m., but the waiter was obviously annoyed as he informed us we needed to order and eat quickly - the kitchen was closing in 30 minutes. We sat down and the man next to us told us we were lucky to get a table so quickly as usually there is a long waiting list.

Café Puerto Rico serves traditional Puerto Rican food, which includes lots of fish (red snapper, in particular), plaintains, rice and beans. There is an obvious African influence in Puerto Rico.

While in Puerto Rico I wanted to purchase a souvenir, but not just any old souvenir. I wanted something that a local would feel represented their country. Our waiter had since gone out for a smoke, and was in a much better mood, so I asked him for recommendations. After thinking about it, and likely asking some of his female coworkers, he came back to our table and suggested three things.

First, the garridos. I have no idea if I am spelling this word correctly, but basically garridos are the watch towers located around the sea wall that surrounds Old San Juan.

Second, the coqui. These are tiny little frogs with really big voices. The first evening we were in Puerto Rico, we heard the coqui, but actually thought it was some kind of cricket. It literally makes the sound - “co-kee.” The frogs are only about two inches big. The only one I ever saw was in a tourist shop, and he was in an aquarium.

And finally, anything with the Puerto Rican flag. Puerto Ricans are very proud people and have a long history.

Before we left, our reformed waiter gave each of us a treat - a shot of Puerto Rican eggnog. It is a traditional drink served at Christmas and New Years. It was absolutely delicious! I looked online and if what he gave us is the same thing, it is made with rum, coconut, milk, and spices. He told us that Puerto Rico celebrates the longest Christmas in the world. It begins the day after Thanksgiving and concludes at the end of January. Here we are with our friendly waiter.

After lunch we began to explore Old San Juan. There are tons and tons of little shops, but I was on a quest to find a garrido, coqui, or a flag. Finally, I came upon a store that had just wanted I wanted. It was big and would be heavy to carry around, but Dave manned up and carried it all over the place for the rest of the afternoon. According to the store employee, the sculpture was done by a Spanish Basque named Benet. He doesn’t know if this was his first name or last name, he just knew he called him Benet. Evidently, he was quite old and has recently died. Here's my newest "treasure."

Old San Juan is protected by a huge sea wall and two forts. We weren’t able to go inside the forts as we spent too long at Café Puerto Rico drinking Puerto Rican eggnog and looking for the perfect souvenir. The massive wall and forts were built around the city in the 1500s to protect it from the enemy. The city was often used as a stopover for ships that came from Spain, and it was imperative that the enemy not take control of the island and make Puerto Rico an enemy base. I wish we would have timed our visit better so that we could have at least gone INSIDE the forts. Rather, we walked around outside, in a drizzle, with an amazing rainbow in the sky!

On our last day in Puerto Rico, we woke to overcast skies. The sun came out for a little bit, but then it turned drizzly. While Benjamin and Melissa headed back up to their rooms that afternoon, Dave and I took a spot underneath one of the umbrellas and just watched the locals boogie boarding in the gigantic waves.

We didn’t see any tourists in the water, and although it looked fun, Dave convinced me it wasn’t a good idea. We were committed to staying outside as long as possible, so we made our way to the hot tub and asked (ok, ordered) our children to bring us cervezas from the room. We ended up having a great time, regardless of a little pesky rain.

I would have to say that Puerto Rico ended up being one of our most leisurely trips, next to our honeymoon trip to Cancun when it was just Dave and I. When I asked everyone what they wanted to do, the resounding answer was, “relax.” We most certainly did that. We spent a great deal of time on the beach, which is one of my favorite things to do. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being awesome, I would put Puerto Rico around a 7. I still favor the waters of the Caribbean, and maybe if we would have gone to the other side of the island, my opinion would have been different. Also, the food was average. I had it in my head that I would be eating some great Mexican food. Stupid, I know…so I was a little bit disappointed.

All in all, it was a great trip and allowed us to bond a little bit more and get in the relaxation all of us evidently needed.

Where to next people??