Vacation Education

While taking a vacation in Prague and Amsterdam, from my vacation in Spain, I ran across the unexpected, education, reflection and a dose of humility. During a couple of walking tours listening to different tour directors I became aware of how hard people fought to be free of religious domination. I know I studied this in school, how our founding fathers came here for freedom, especially freedom of religion or from religion. It became a whole lot more meaningful to me in the past few days, hearing the story of those left behind to fight on their home ground. And it became increasing clear to me how important it is that we not allow the churches or religious right to gain a stronghold in or on our government. The Spanish Inquisition is one of many examples of the dangers of allowing religious fanatics to gain power.

The second thing that became more real to me was the Nazi occupation of both of these countries and the effect it had on them, not only at the time of the occupation, but on the generations that came after. I would Prague is believed to have one of the highest percentage of atheists in the world. And Amsterdam can’t be far behind. Despite all the very old and beautiful churches in Europe it seems far less religious than the United States. It is hard for me to believe that some of this is the result of witnessing what happened in Europe with the Nazi’s and during World War II.

Then after the Nazi’s came the communist.  Eileen and I visited the Museum of Communism in Prague, which ironically is next door to McDonalds and in the same building on the same floor as a gambling parlor. One of the first thing that struck me as we walked through this museum is how the communist used the exact same strategy in creating  fear of the United States as the United States used to create fear of Communism, even the same style of printmaking. The same fear mongering that has been building in the United States since 9/11. The Us and Them. We have one asset the Europeans didn’t have when fighting the church, the Nazis and the Communists, we have the internet and social networking and it would probably be a good idea to protect it.

Now to the humility part. Between the Museum of Communism and the information from the tour guides I got a clearer idea of how oppressive communism was under Stalin and Lenin and some of their replacements. And I reflected back on how naïve and arrogant we were (or I was) when spouting Marx and Mao and considering a few hundred thousand lives to be just the cost of a better world. I had already decided that pure communism probably would never work with human beings, because we do better with an incentive. I think they figured this out in China when people were starving because the farmers only produced what they were required to produce under the quota system and there was no incentive to produce more. When China finally allowed them to sell any amount they produced over their quota there started being more food to feed the masses. But I think the ideas behind socialism are better than those behind communism. I always did like Trotsky.

The problem with all the examples we have of communism today is that they were all the result of a violent revolution and in the heat of the revolution the ends justified the means allowing a few individuals to be powerful when the revolution was won. And in each case power and paranoia went to their heads.

 I believe every human beings basic need for food, shelter and health care need to be provided. I hope the Occupy folks study history well and if they succeed they have plans to implement a true democracy. I believe the United Stated and our constitution was a good start, but somewhere along the way it got terribly off track and the present state of the nation is a tad scary. Both Prague and Amsterdam worship freedom. I learned a lot from my visit to these cities.

Adventures on Thursday

It has been an interesting day. I got all packed and organized this morning, or so I thought. I got to the bus station to get my bus to the Madrid airport, about a 2 1/2 hour ride. Only it turned out it didn’t go to the airport, this bus pulled into one of the city’s bus stations. Yikes. I have a plane to catch. So I’m talking to the bus driver about the fact that we are not at the airport and he is explaining only the odd hour departures go to the airport. Some guy over hears this conversation and tells me about a train that goes to the airport from the bus station and would be leaving momentarily. I wasn’t will to risk how long the train would take, and how far I would have to walk from where the train stopped and the terminal. And he was in a hurry to catch the train, so I didn’t want to detain him while I practiced my Spanish.
So I went to the bath room. First things first, then found a cab. Well my euros were in the bottom of my suitcase because, according to my plan, I wasn’t going to need them until we went to Amsterdam. So I’m asking the cab driver how much, approximately, it would cost for the trip to the airport because I might need to get some money from the suitcase. So we worked out that I had enough in my pocket. A guy overheard our conversation and was telling me I should have my money in my pockets, not in my suitcase cause it could get stolen, the cab driver is putting my suitcase in the trunk and telling me it was safe, which I already knew, so off we wentHad a little conversation with the driver about how he was from Avila, the city I visited last week end, about Salamanca where I’m studying Spanish and about the City of Madrid. He complimented me on my Spanish, said he didn’t have any trouble understanding me. Yea!
So I get to the airport and go to check in and the lady tells me my carry on is too heavy, would I like to take some stuff out. I said I didn’t have any place to put anything. I had three coats, a bag stuffed with bears and stuff and my carry on. So I go to dive into my suitcase again to get Euros to pay to check my luggage and realize I can use my credit card, in the middle of standing back up, she says, “oh, never mind.” And let me go on.
So I get to security, use three trays to load up my shoes and bag, my computer then take three trips to carry all of that along with my carryon bag over to the conveyer belt to go through the scanner. I walk through the little portal. Ding or buzz goes the machine. I feel in my pockets and find my cell phone, so I pull it out, the security person takes it from me and she proceeds to do a full pat down search. Then I scurry over to get my stuff and take three trips to get it over to the tables. I start to reorganize and realize I don’t have my cell phone. So I proceed to look through all the pockets of my various coats and realize they were going through the scanner when I pulled the phone out of my pocket. So I go back to the conveyor belt thinking I’ll probably get shot because you’re not suppose to go backwards in that system and asked about my phone. A gal said follow me, but all my stuff was over at the table, so she said to get it, no hurry I got my stuff and put on my shoes. She brought over the policeman with my phone and he asked me to identify the pictures. I though he meant the last picture taken on my camera, so I said graffiti on the road into Madrid from Salamanca. He looked at me really funny, then the woman said “Niños” and I realized the photo they wanted me to identify was the wall paper photo. I think you have to cut me some slack here because I was very nervous and the whole transaction was once again in Spanish. Imagine that! At a Spanish airport! What were they thinking? lol So I said “Nietos, estos es me nietos, dos nietos, mi nieto tiene catorce años and mi nieta tiene cinco años.” So they let me have the pone. The guy said that the fact that the phone color matched my hair was probably proof enough.
So I find the gate and get on th t attendants e plane. There is hardly anyone on it, so there was lots of comfy room. In the middle of the flight the pilot came on the intercom and announced that the flight attendants had gifts for all of the women on the flight because it was International Women’s Day. They gave us each a box of chocolates. Wasn’t that sweet. We deplaned on the cold tarmac and took a shuttle bus over to the terminal. I went through to the baggage area to meet the guy who was supposed to take me to the hotel He wasn’t there. I checked all the signs that people were holding and none of them had my name on them. My flight had gotten in a little late, so I waited five or ten minutes and finally decided I needed to dive into the suit case again to get the hotel address so I could get a cab. Just as I did this the driver showed up and took me to the hotel in a comfy Mercedes. I was met by the guy who runs the hotel and he came up, showed me how to work the keys, gave me half hour tour of the area and then when I asked for directions to address I had for the AA meeting he proceeded to walk me there and made sure I knew how to get back to the hotel. Did I mention that we have a one bedroom apartment that is huge with a refrigerator, dishwasher and coffee and tea supplies, And it has a view of the clock tower.
So I went to the first English speaking meeting I have been to since January 26. I was just so thrilled to be there. It was great. On the way home I got a sausage, rye bread and mustard and some potato dish with sauerkraut. Eileen came and we went out so she could get a bite. And now it is bed time. Love you all.

 ·  ·  · 22 hours ago near Malá Strana, Hlavni Mesto Praha

Adventures of a Daily Variety

OK, so I went to the doctor. In fact I went to two doctors on Wednesday. I've been having some problems with my distance vision, so the first was an eye doctor. I did the whole thing in Spanish, the eye exam, choosing the glasses, filling out the paperwork. He didn't speak any English, imagine that. lol I was so excited and proud of my little self. The only glitch on the eye chart was the letter was z because I couldn't remember how to say "z" in Spanish, but it came to me. In case you ever need this information, it is zeta. He said the glasses would be ready within a week and they would call to let me know when they are done. I even explained to him that I was leaving on the following Thursday, and wouldn't be back for two weeks, so if he called late not to worry, I would come in when I got back. But he assured me they would be done before Thursday. I know this doesn't sound like much, but when you are doing it all in Spanish it sounds like a very complicated transaction. Anyway, I was delighted when I left.

The second doctor was a regular doctor. I have had an ear ache since I got here, but thought it would just go away. Then this week my throat started hurting so bad I couldn't sleep one night, so I thought I had strep throat. Don't laugh, I know it sounds a little dramatic, but at least I didn't think it was throat cancer. lol One of the aides went with me, because they need to give the doctor the insurance paperwork to make things easier. But I still had to tell him what was wrong and get the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment plan in Spanish. It turns out I have an ear infection, so he wrote a prescription for antibiotic ear drops and oral antibiotics (the Spanish version of a Z pack which only involves one pill a day for three days.) But the ear drops are three drops three times a day for a week. Since the pharmacies here do not paste any instructions on the package, I had them repeated a couple of times so I wouldn't end up trying to shove the oral antibiotic in my ear at 3 am. hehehe

The kids are still the same, drinking all night long almost every night. Showing up late for class or not at all. Sleeping in class, watching music videos, emailing each other or others, etc. The boys are having trouble getting laid and a few of us older ladies have been trying to explain to them that they need to drink less if they want their pencil sharp. But alas, it seems they would rather drink.

I learned a new Spanish idiom which should come in handy. "Ser el ombligo del mudo" Which literally translates to "To be the belly button of the world."  When the teacher asked be to explain what this means in Spanish, I thought of Deb as I said, "Está  todo sobre mi." The teacher laughed and said "Bien, Nancy" If you want to say it to someone, just say "Crees que son el ombligo del mundo." I'm sure your friends will be very impressed.

I had a great walk on along the river with a friend on Tuesday. It was a nice time. After the walk we went to my house and the mom of my house served us cafe con leche and cookies. The reflections of the trees, bushes, sky and clouds reminded me of Monet's paintings. And the birds were just too good to pass up.