Spain: Hills Like White Elephants

SPAIN:HILLS LIKE WHITE ELEPHANTS

Spain.—our very last port before home and it seemed pretty “easy” to delve into after the exotic ports and difficulty of communication in the Asian as well as other ports. But also, it was familiar; only four years ago we traveled with John and Hilary, Tom’s brother and sister-in-law, and though we visited a new city, our port city o0f Cadiz on the tip of Spain, we also revisited the town of Granada and its famous site, the Alhambra.

We spent the first two days in Cadiz, exploring the especially beautiful parks, many with gorgeous ocean views and botanical specimens from all over the world. Many of the trees came from the canary islands—and one they called a “ficus” was especially lovely—huge, huge entertwined trunks and branches (almost like a baobab) and big shiny leaves that looked like magnolia leaves. Of course there were Mediterranean palms and cactus and flowering shrubs (even though it’s winter here –it was still 60-70 degrees although VERY windy by one of the old castles, Santa Catalina whose appearance made us realize where the California “mission style” comes from. We toured the old town and its many shops and cafes and pedestrian shopping center, saw the remains of bodies from the Inquisition still plastered into old walls and were indeed awed by its mammoth cathedral—built of limestone and stone of petrified shell—in all of its baroque glory.

Inside it is beautifully baroque but almost entirely white—white stone and white columns and unlike most of the other cathedrals, the candlesticks and tabernacle and monstrance and trim was make of silver instead of gold . In the basement was a gigantic crypt with lots of saints and dignitaries buried there as well as a chapel to St. whose still “pure” body rested relatively uncorrupted in her glass reliquary for all to see. I must admit I’ve seen more relics of Catholic, Orthodox and Muslim holy people than ever before—or maybe just more multi-faith ones. And the cathedral museum had many costly and carved ivory and gold and embroidered church garments and crucifixes and tabernacles than I could have believed hadn’t been sent to the Vatican and its museums. The ivory pieces were huge and finely carved. Unfortunately, lunch time here is about 3—and dinner starts at about 9:30 and we could never find open restaurants at a time we wished to dine. It got dark at about four and the stores mostly all closed from 2- 5:30. Evidently they don’t take a siesta but do have their main meal then. We kept hoping someone would take us home for dinner!

The next three days we spent with Val and Roger Vetter,; he’s an ethnomusicologist who teaches at Grinell in Iowa and Val teaches T’ai Chi and ethnic dance. We took the train from Cadiz to Grenada so we could re-visit the Alahambra and the Moorish section of Albaicin. The trains in Spain (are mainly on the plain)—sorry, I couldn’t stop myself. Anyway the trains are comfortable; however on part of the journey we were annoyed by a group of adolescent hoodlums on their way to play soccer. They held LOUD constant conversations, smoked in the non-smoking train, stuck feet on windows and seats, threw things at each other, argued and went constantly to the bathroom—to smoke and/or shoot-up perhaps. No Spanish people said a word to them; I think they were a bit afraid. We complained but the conductor would “speak” to them and leave fast for a different car. But we got there, found a nice if not charming hotel and went sightseeing.

The next day we went up the huge hill to the palace buildings and fortress of Alhambra, reconquered by the Christians in 1492 while Christopher Columbus was busy exploring and Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand then expelled all the Jews and any Muslims in th4 area. Washington Irving, a romantic American writer was a diplomat here in 1829 and lived for a.while in rooms in the palace. It was probably his description in his Tales of the Alhambra that led to its renovation and its historical prominence . Actually his descriptions of the place still ring true, This is how he describes the famous Court of Lions:

There is no part of the edifice that gives us a more complete idea of its
Original beauty and magnificence than this, for none has suffered so
Little from the ravages of time. In the center stands the fountain famous
In song and story. The alabaster basins still shed their diamond drops,
And the twelve lions which support them cast forth their crystal streams
As in the days of Boabdil. The court is laid out in flower beds and
Surrounded by light Arabian arcades of open filigree work, supported by
Slender pillars of white marble. The architecture, like that of all other parts
Of the palace is characterized by elegance rather than grandeur, bespeaking
A delicate and graceful taste and a disposition to indolent enjoyment. When
One looks upon the fairy tracery of the peristyles and the apparently fragile
Fretwork of the walls, it is difficult to believe that so much has survived the Wear and tear of centuries….

It was a cold afternoon yet the palace and its decorations were worth a bit of discomfort. Afterward we went back down the hill for a snack—the wonderful hot chocolate and churros (for dunking) of southern Spain. Later that evening after a late (for us) dinner, we went to a small Spanish bar for real Flamenco—a great guitar player, male singer and female singer and dancer. The stage was tiny and the audience right there crammed in with drinks (and cigarettes) and sweat to watch this non-tourist performance for real aficionados. We were told that in the states while the cars whiz by broadcasting the deep bass of hip hop and rap, the young people here turn up their flamenco and bounce in their cars to this beat one that really didn’t get popular until the 1920s but still remains.

The train brought us “home” to the ship in Cadiz the next day, minus the soccer players to our infinite relief. Now…ten days across the Atlantic. We’ll see you all soon!!

DK

Dubrovnik, Korcula, Croatia...Five Days

Five days in and around Dubrovnik, Croatia. In our shipboard Croatia guide, passed out 2-3 days before arrival at a port, there a seriously truncated section on cultural and political history, likely a significant omission. I’ve been trying to understand the last 25 years of the former Yugoslavia’s history for almost that long…warring religious, ethnic and nationalist groups, an embattled people in a spectacularly beautiful mountainous land, little or no industry besides tourism, which in the port city of Dubrovnik brings in 550 cruise ships in the summer and almost none after October. In a class exercise, where I asked students to write a phrase that captured the essence of the culture they had just visited, I wrote about Dubrovnik “an opulent, dramatic geography along the Adriac Sea with deep currents of human turmoil—anger, depression, sadness, fear – the fuse for more violence?”

The recent history is easy to recite: after the fall of Tito’s socialist state in the 1980’s, which many locals told us was good for Croatian life, just and economically sound, the Republic of Croatia proclaimed its independence. In October 1991, after Croatia sought its independence, Serbia attacked Croatia with tanks, war ships and guns. The Croats were mostly defenseless, lost 43 citizens, and sustained extensive damage. Given the severe power of the Serbs and the Montenegrins, who intended to burn and destroy the territory completely, perhaps partly to gain access to the Sea, the gorgeous city of Dubrovnik was hit hard and the city itself was in the enemy’s total encirclement for eight months. Much of that time, Croats had no food or water, no power, while the UN tried to intervene. The scars are still deep, as we heard, unsolicited, from four or five native Croats and even some Serbs, who live in Croatia. Imagine: you’re a Serb living in Croatia while your brother is in the mountains or at sea shelling your home.

We were warned by our shipboard interport scholars and students, Don’t raise the topic of the war. But we couldn’t avoid it: one of our tour guides entertained us with a three hour rant, mostly about the current corrupt government, holdovers from socialist days, the priesthood in cahoots with the government, and the economic and human cost to his own life of the war.

We roamed the rocky coastline and the Old City a lot, went on a splendid service visit to the main Orphanage and the Dubrovnik City Hospital. We were able to meet director and many of the teachers, as well as the children, at the orphanage. Had a great seafood dinner at Lokande restaurant.

Turkish Delight: Five Glorious Days in Istanbul

Whether it is because Istanbul has very likely the most visually spectacular harbor in the world, a European flavor (even though 97% of Turkey is in Asia), spectacular mosques and museums, fewer veils and headscarves on women than in Egypt, Turkey as one of the US’s most strategic partners, or great shopping in age-old bazaars, we loved it. We didn’t get out of Istanbul…didn’t really see much of Turkey, but knew we had to come back. Perhaps more than any predominantly Islamic country, Turkey is a model of democratic secularism and a viable candidate for the European Union, resistance to which many faculty on the ship say is a form of bare-knuckled prejudice against Islam. (Tom and I are writing this together and I'm not sure I agree with his political assessment but we can discuss that later when we get home!) I DO agree with the fact that we did love the city even though we didn't expect to, a humungous city of 17,000,000. Yep--the number of zeroes is correct! We could not figure out where everyone lived since in the Old Town, a very large area, there are no high rises. However we took a ride on the tram (great public transportation) all the way to the end of the line and did see some city squalor and huge high rise apartment buildings that seemed to be falling into decay even though brand new ones were being built right next door and none was very old. Based on the friendly people, the great food (especially the shish-kabob, and the helva), the endless walking around Kapali Carsi Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, the Sultanahmet Mosque (the Blue Mosque), the Hippodrome, the city of Taksim (a short tram and then funicular ride from our ship), and the Mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent, we couldn’t get enough of the city, Europe’s largest. The mosques, particularly those built by the architect, Sinan, rivaled some of the cathedrals in Europe--just different while still beautiful. Tom also found "bead heaven" two long streets of wholesale beads in silver and gold and precious and semi-precious stones and glass ....most to our amazement had still been made in China!

I spent a morning with a shipboard friend while Dianne slept(knocked out from a sea sick pill). Rich, an interesting guy, both a documentary maker and a bee keeper, and I hopped on the tram for a short ride into downtown Istanbul, with the intention of riding it to the outskirts of the city to let what happened happen. Three quarters into the ride we saw an antiquated sign on an antiquated building which read Istanbul University. We consulted quickly and decided to hop off to visit the English, Entemology and Film departments.

Little did we know that Ist. U. has multiple branches located all over the city and that we stood at the gates of the Medical campus. Undeterred, the third person we asked for directions from was a PHD candidate IN the British Literature Department, and he kindly wrote us the names of two head professors in that department on our notepad, sent us packing back to the tram. Three stops later we exited, found another University entrance, this one heavily blocked with guards. We spent almost thirty minutes sweet talking them into letting us through the hallowed gates. The scribbled names of two profs were ouro ticket, and four phone calls to the Brit Lit department got us a pass. Three custodians later, we were sitting in a small room with five old wooden desks, four faculty and five graduate students, only to discover that what had once been the Literature Department had had a schism years ago, and was now divided into two departments, one for British literature, the other for American. Training English teachers was handled by yet another form of English department.

With tea cups in hand, we shared our stories. The atmosphere and curriculum were what one would expect from almost any American campus in the 1950’s. They told us their 100 undergraduate majors often missed classes, their curriculum was narrow where students took few courses outside of their specialization, the graduate dissertations were on Shakespeare, Marlow and Chaucer. The senior professor, a short haired and stocky fellow in his 50’s, told us he had studied in Illinois twenty years ago, loved Istanbul…”a city where you can have any kind of fun you want 24 hours a day.” The department had few adjunct or part time faculty…when they did, they usually didn’t get any state support. They had an occasional Fulbright lecturer, but that was rare.

When we talked about my learning community experiences, most of the students and faculty were surprised. “Nothing like that could happen here. Ankora (the capital) would never allow it.” Like what we’re already learning about education in Croatia, Turkey educated students in strict disciplinary silos; LC’s are a long way off!

Istanbul is a beautiful city, full of ancient but still beautiful mosques, wide avenues and bustling people 52% under the age of 30, yet one can still see its incredibly ancient roots, parts of the city wall that Constantine built in the 4th century! Unlike India, the air is brisk (cold) and the people dressed warmly in dark clothes, hats and jackets, all muted and subdued. Old women which we deemed "babushka women" (probably OUR age) sat covered in headscarves in a park dotted with Roman ruins and a shoeshine man busily brushing shoes worn by businessmen in three piece Western suits and ties. Everywhere in the city were small cemeteries with tall stones decorated with calligraphy and arabesques. Stray cats and many stray dogs went about their business all looking as if they knew where they were going and maybe were a bit late for appointments. This is the first country, however, while having many, many strays, where the strays looked pretty healthy.

Each day and evening men fished from the Galatea Bridge and night markets sold everything along the ferry piers, from underwear to leather jackets to fresh fish sandwiches and beer. Hawkers tried to entice customers into seaside restaurants and a strip of water pipe bars pulled in many of the students. However, absolute NO hookahs would be permitted on board the ship warned our Dean's Memo and the ship loudspeaker announcements! Darn--and I wanted to bring everybody a pipe. So don't be too disappointed when you don't get one!!

We had such a nice time we'd like to return to Turkey combined with a trip to Greece. I, Dianne, would like to go to Ephesus and the site of Troy--and other archeological sites. Tom likes the idea of more city and city life.

Tut Speaks: Cairo, Luxor, Alexandria

Egypt was another breath-taking journey, mostly into the past this time, as we roamed through old cities, temples, graves, valleys, ancient bazaars, and aging kingdoms, dodging the vendors who have developed their tackling skills to the max. Still, we loved (the ancient if not the present) Egypt, even the three night, four day trip we took through Cairo and to Luxor, with very early morning wake up calls and trips to the Giza Pyramids.

I (Tom)write this after our magnificent visit to Istanbul, Turkey, with an evening arrival to Dubrovnik tonight. I look back on our days in Egypt and realize it was a hard country for me to like, though much of the country is stunningly beautiful and deeply historic, especially if you like deserts, pharaohs and sand. Images from one of Mafouz’s novels wander in and out of my brain, especially this line from the novel I’m now finishing, The Beginning and the End, the story of one poor family from the Cairo neighborhood surrounding the Khan, where Dianne and I often wandered: “How curious that Egypt unmercifully devours its own offspring! Yet they say we are a contented people. Oh God, this is the height of human misery! Nay, it is the height of human misery to be miserable and contented.” While the Nobelist Moufouz wrote this at the end of the 1940s, I wonder if some of it is still true today. The people, friendly and poor. The vendors saying "no hassle" while they bodily pull you into their shops--"Just look, it's free to look" or the more humorous "how can I take your money today?!"


Cairo is a badly polluted and heavily militaristic city in a country of more than 80 million people. It is said that there are 500, 000 police in Cairo alone, though trips to the Pyramids, located in Giza outside of Cairo, help to forget that fact. The Great Pyramid of Cheops, constructed on 2.5 million stone blocks and rising 450 feet from the sand, is stunning, to say the least, and Dianne even got a camel ride in the bargain. Tom and I are now writing this together and I have to say that despite it being a tourist kitsch--I loved my camel ride--just a bit bumpier and much higher than riding a horse. But those of you who read Amelia Peabody mysteries would be right at home here. The animals in Egypt all looked overworked, underfed and undermedicated. And so, Ameilia tending to the donkies and camels in the novels is very realistic--it still needs to be done--and what I never realized before is that she uses REAL historical figures in her mysteries, such as Howard Carter and Maspero. It's pretty sad when the only way I knew bits of Egyptian lore (aside from museum instruction) was from these campy novels! Tom also watched a dramatic though wee bit kitchy light show on the Giza Pyramids.

We spent two nights at a very nice hotel in Cairo before a flight to Luxor, originally called Thebes, which from 2100 to 750 BCE was the seat of power and glory for its temples, especially the one at Karnac. The Valley of the Kings there revealed Tut’s grave to us, and those of several other pharaohs, and we saw a display of Tut’s treasures in the Luxor Museum that is everything its reputation suggests. The temple at Luxor though small was awesome and very romantic as we saw it at night. It is dramatically lit each night and we also saw it by full moon. The temple(s) at Karnac rivaled the Acropolis for me (D), It was gigantic and it had enormous columns crowned with lotus and papyrus capitals and original paintings left on some of the lintels.

And while Tom enjoyed the Cairo Museum, I was blown away by the very small sections we got to see--especially the King Tut room. Although many items are on tour in the US and Europe, there were still enormous numbers of items that showed the wealth and power of this very young, very minor King. We also saw his tomb with one mummy case and his mummy's resting place and pictures of Howard Carter discovering the tomb with all of these pieces piled on one another in a tinier room in the tomb--but oh, the jewelry, the gilded and carved palequins, the carved tiger beds and royal crowns and the jewel encrusted canopic jars, the alabaster perfume flasks, the ivory carved lion unguent containers,the gold death mask and his gilded throne! My favorite piece, though, was a small wooden bust, carved and painted of Tut when he was younger. Now if only we could transport the WHOLE collection to a special exhibit for our museum. Then we'd really have an unrivaled Ancient Art tour!

Other images of Cairo that I (Tom) won’t soon forget: Thousands of unfinished houses with roofs cluttered with construction material and rebar, due to the fact that several years ago taxes were raised at the height of a construction boom and "unfinished" buildings don't have to pay as much so they are purposefully left unfinished. Mubarek has been President for 25 years and the Islamic Muslim Brotherhood is predicted to take over congress in the next election, something that one of our most esteemed faculty Prof. Don Heinz thinks might be a very good thing (while many fear the Brotherhood, and an Islamic state…one of the possible downsides is that it would bring a very strict rule against kissing in the street); Egypt is the only Arab country to have made peace with Israel; in Epypt you cannot take a picture without the subject demanding money, unless the subject is a camel; we spent more than an hour trying to wrest ourselves from the clutches of a perfume shop owner, whose brother had given us directions to the large Khan Khalili Bazaar. After giving directions, the brother took us forcibly by the arm and walked us 4 blocks to the perfume shop, where we were sat down, showed pictures of fighter Mohammad Ali drinking tea with the shop owner, followed by being served tea and a hard sell for perfume. We resisted and left abruptly 30 minutes later.

But that was in Cairo--and out in the country near Luxor and Thebes the living was at least "prettier" or more picturesque for tourists. (I doubt if the poor merchants and farm laborers or country people) had it better--probably much worse but we were sheltered in a hotel in Luxor that was more like a resort with its own shopping and restaurants and bars and pool and boat rides. Our room had a balcony covered in bouginvilla and facing the Nile. It was lovely and so we only saw mostly the way very rich Egyptians lived here. (I'm not complaining, mind you, but we were certainly more tourists than "travellers" at these sites. We did, however, come away from the country with sand in our shoes and grit in our teeth. We did like ancient Egypt, but I'm not sure we will return.