Settling Into Cuenca

Our lunch venue across the river

Yesterday, we met up with the two guys from downstairs to go for lunch. Decorated much differently than the one we are in, their apartment is just as perfect. Some pieces they had custom made, gorgeous work.

We walked down to the river, which was a sweet walk. The last time we were here, we were advised to avoid the river due to crime. This time, the information is 180 degrees different. A river walk is perfectly safe, in addition to being relaxing. 

Our lunch spot is right on the river called Inca Lounge & Bar. It was there that we met Rose, a friend of the guys. She is as delightful company as Howard and Mike are, so the lunch was a lively one and most enjoyable. It really struck both Ron and I how we have only been here two days and already are making social contacts. 

This really made me stop to think about the benefits of living here for that reason. As the vast majority of the ex-pats living here are retired, they have time on their hands to imbibe on the cocktails of socialization without the deterrence of work. Some are imbibing on the cocktails of cocktails too. This leads to the fact that they generally made a conscious decision to move here. Whereas in Budapest, many are transferred there for work, education, or scholarship, so their time is limited and it becomes a revolving door. You meet people, get to know them, and then they are leaving for home or other assignments. We suffer a regular empty nest syndrome of sorts. 

There is a significant gay (used inclusively) ex-pat community here; it is like a ready-made outlet. Those non-gays that fraternize with the gay crowd do so as they are older adults. This eliminates the need to have something in common with young families or even childcare issues for an adult’s night out. 

After lunch, Howard and Mike took us to their favorite coffee roasting place. We all had a coffee, but we also bought beans to grind back here. Afterward, we parted ways, Ron and I returning to old stomping grounds like Carolina’s Bookstore. From there we went to Tia’s Mercado to do some grocery shopping. 

In spite of our shopping adventure, we still only had mangos, local cheese, and avocados for dinner. It was more than sufficient and satisfying. 

Breakfast this morning was bacon, eggs scrambled with some of the local cheese. Ron has mastered the French press, so the coffee is some of the best I have had in ages. Not even Starbucks can compete. It may be grinding the beans as we need them that lends the difference.

The housekeeper was coming from 10am to noon, so we were asked to be out during this time. It was a perfect opportunity to shop at the larger supermarket Super Maxi. It is about a mile and a half walk, but we did it so efficiently, we had concerns about returning too soon. Along the way, we discovered an ex-pat American’s café and coffee roasting establishment. We had a coffee and chatted for about an hour. 

Super Maxi has about everything one could want with many US brands, but strangely enough, we found out that you cannot buy baking soda in stores. You must go to pharmacies for it and the quantity is severely limited for each purchase. We learned that it is used for cocaine production or added to it. It is illegal to bring it in the country too. That aside, we were taken aback to see cooked chickens sell for $10, which is much higher than Budapest. Most items we bought were inexpensive, but they added up quickly. We spent $45, but have two fresh chicken halves that will cover two dinners. Veggies and fruits we buy from the farmers at the other Mercado.

Having too many heavy things to cart home by walking, we took a taxi. It was worth the $2.79 for the ride. 

After dropping the things off, we went across the street for lunch. It was a restaurant suggested by our neighbors. It was 2:30pm, but it was mobbed with young people in school uniforms, business people in suits, and assorted others in everyday dress. Rumor had it that they had fantastic Cuban sandwiches. Neither of us had ever had one and even though I have not had any grains for over six weeks, I broke down to taste one. The bill for the two sandwiches, a huge beer, and a bottle of water came to $7.10. No wonder it is continually full. 

Malena had offered to take us for a SIM card for my phone. Though it is unlocked, it would not accept the card. To buy a cheap phone will run us $45 as opposed to the $5 for a card. We think we will pass on it. Malena also took us to three bio stores to try to find coconut oil. Not one had it for cooking, but only for hair conditioning. She with exceptional grace had us tagging along all around while she tried to help us satisfy our needs. She is truly outstanding as a proprietor.

We left her and we went walking home stopping at bio stores and pharmacies now looking for Coca tea, which is a remedy for altitude problems like headaches. So far, so good.

To satisfy my own curiosity I started making a pros and cons list of living here. I will share it in a couple of months.  

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Just a Chuckle

I notice so many people out in cafes and restaurants, but they are all on their phone communicating with someone else. This cartoon was so apropos. If they were like me and only had 5 people to communicate with, it would solve so many problems. On the other hand, Ron has not learned what "mobile" means in mobile phone. His mobile sits on the charger until it rings. Then it is some Hungarian telemarketer. 

 

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Stumbled Upons

With not much to do here, but relax and read, we thought we would take a walk into town. We stumbled upon directions in our room stating the way to walk if you so chose. There is a path and then a gate where you turn right for the town and left for the Castillo. Either direction should take you thirty minutes.

Finding the path to the kayaks was easy. From there, we stumbled upon the wooden bridge that goes on and on and on while winding in and out. If it where straightened out, it probably would cover about 4 city blocks. I really admire the patience of the people who built it. It is elevated through swampy land with creepy vegetation that looks like a haunted marsh.

When you reach light at the end of the bridge once again, escaping from the canopy of trees and vines reaching this way and that up from the water and other arms reaching into it, you stumble upon a field. On the left side of the field are cows. Brahma type cows, with the long wattles under their necks. They stare at you with suspicion and are really skittish as if they may have seen many things emerge from that darkness where the bridge ends, but they keep their secrets, not sharing a single memory with anyone but each other.

The directions we were to follow were to look for a green gate. Shortly after passing the cows with the secrets, we stumbled upon a green and gold gate, but this did not look right. We were warned that the green gate would probably be locked, but we could squeeze through. This gate was yawning wide saying AHHHHH! We kept walking, but we stumbled upon the path; it consisted on rocks of innumerable sizes, making a stroll difficult, but each step required climbing until the next step. After another ½ a mile, we stumbled upon the really real green gate. It was locked with a chain and a lock. Swinging the gate to and fro did not provide enough room for squeezing anything much larger than a cockroach through. We stood back and assessed the situation before we despaired.

Looking at the situation again from a bit of a distance, we stumbled upon a solution. On the side of the gate post there was an open space where we could squeeze through easily and we did. Our quest was to go to town to buy a Tigo Movil Internet USB stick, so we turned right based on our instructions. Walking on the roadside did not feel too safe, because the road curves and cars don’t pay too much attention to pedestrians. We both independently estimated that it was another mile to actually stumble upon the town. Whoever suggested thirty minutes walking must have been an Olympian, but we made it.

Once in town, we were overwhelmed with the people around, the traffic was horrific both vehicle and pedestrian. With the note in my hand like a child sent to the grocery store by his mother, I went to one shop after another wherever I saw a Tigo sign. In each place, they shook their head, said something in Spanish, which took me too many seconds to comprehend and then they pointed me in another direction. Finally, we stumbled upon the Tigo store, the place where they sell mobile phones as well at the Tigo service needed to operate them. Eureka! This was the place.

For 205 quetzals or 20 Euros, I would get 3 GB of Internet service; however, they we running a special offer and the first fifteen days are free. Now what I was uncertain about is exactly how much bandwidth usage is free?  Once you do use up the GB you pay for, you can return to any Tigo store in Central America or any other place you happen to stumble upon one and add money to your stick. Quite a deal, I thought, since the hotel did not have WiFi and only two computers that I could only use for e-mail, nothing else.

Being potentially connected to the world again, we explored the town, all one street of it. That is not quite true; there are 2 streets, but since the 2^nd street is the one we had to walk up to get to the main street, that had been explored already. Along the one street, it was as in many villages, dozens of the same types of stores competing with each other. Three restaurants sit side by side, none of which would pass a health inspection from a long distance glance. There are more hardware stores here than most cities have bars and pubs. How much duct tape does anyone need?

In one section of the street, we stumbled upon five women with food carts set up side by side along the street. Note that sidewalks are non-existent so you are battling other pedestrians while all of you are trying to avoid bicyclists, tuk-tuks, cars, and delivery trucks all at the same time. It is visual juggling at its best. As we are trying to negotiate some walking space past these women who have their food carts partially in the road, each begging us to try their tamales, tortillas, fried chicken, stuffed chili peppers, and other foods they have labored over. As soon as the warning scent of a potential customer reaches their olfactory glands, you turn into prey. Each woman is screaming at you to buy their food suggesting you only look straight ahead until you have bypassed the competitors’. Everyone has the best selection and flavor in their own mind. We get past each of them with our clothes, bodies, and minds intact, but not without minor scarring.

Now that we are out of the battle zone, what now? We have walked the street, both sides. We have done the side alleys and the courtyards. We have stumbled upon 39 hardware stores, 24 stores that are selling flip-flops and used books, 11 stores offering cheap mobile phones, one veterinary supply store and one pharmacy being run out of someone’s spare room, but where they offer to administer injections and intravenous medicines as well as fill prescriptions. The single woman behind the counter had glasses like the bottom of a soda bottle. Viva la cultural differences.

After that long walk and complete investigation of the town, we were ready to stumble upon something different. We found a hotel restaurant down by the waterfront. The papaya smoothie was delicious, but what now? The clouds were darkening and herding together in what had been a luscious blue sky was now looking like a bad bruise of black and blue. The thought of walking 2 miles and potentially getting caught in the rain did not get score high on my fun-o-meter. We tried taking a tuk-tuk to the green gate, but that was a forbidden zone for tuk-tuks for some reason. Luckily, we stumbled upon a taxi that was more than happy to take us and charge us 25 quetzals. We were more than happy to pay 2.50 Euros for a mile ride.

Back to the green gate, we squeezed through the side once again and retraced our way back to the hotel. We made it back to our bungalow when the skies opened and the rains started to pour down.

For the first time, I took my netbook computer to the restaurant and was ready to connect to the Internet with the new Tigo stick. Each time I had used the netbook here, I had only used it in our bungalow. As soon as the computer booted up, what did I stumble upon, but a message “Wireless connections are available. Would you like to connect?” Well sure I would like to save my 3 GB for as long as possible. Gosh darned if there was not an unsecured Internet connection that was available for using. I was able to post the last three days of blog posts and read and respond to e-mails. I trawled the Internet with the feeling that I had been released from a prison about to explore the world without restrictions once again. That lasted until 6 pm, when the entire Internet connection was lost, not only my WiFi friend, but the connection for the hotel’s computers as well.

Tomorrow, I will try out the Tigo Internet stick that I had stumbled upon.     

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Make a Offer

This is the place we have decided to try buying (post below). You have to imagine it without the bassinet and changing table. We will hardly need those.  Of course according to the realtor, their asking price is far out of range for the prices that places are selling for in this economy or have sold for in the last 6 months. We don't expect them to accept our bid as we really went low-ball, but it is a starting point. An advantage for us is that they are anxious to move as the wife is due in April, so they want to have moved long before she gets close to that time. There is another apartment we are interested in if this falls through.

The chore now is getting the money from Bank of America to here. When I online chatted with a customer service rep, she gave me 6 pages of instructions of what I would need to do since we were not about to return to California to transfer the money in person. They have a "SafePass" program now, which though cumbersome at first is much more convenient than the horror they put us through when we first bought this place. We had to send thousands of dollars to my best friend, who in turn wired it to us. I had set up the SafePass, but had not tried using it yet. The exchange rate from the bank on either end is not anywhere close to the exchange booths, so I am still thinking of a work around. 

At noon, we met with Peter who filled out the paperwork bilingually, so we knew what we were signing. After giving him a small chunk of change, he put the wheels in motion to place our offer. We need to get the money here by the middle of December; I was chewing my nails worrying. 

Once home, I tried doing the transfer. For security reasons, I had to put in all of the info on my ATM card. Easy-peasy. Next step, register your mobile phone number, which has to be US based. There was the hitch. We ran down the list of those we thought may have a mobile phone, plus one that could accept text messages. Don't laugh, but we know a number of Luddites, so this was no easy task. Targeting the youngest generation for whom we had phone numbers, of course none of them answered. I called our friend Laszlo who has taken off to NJ. He gave me his number; I entered it. Number accepted, send code now. Once the code is sent to the mobile phone, you only have ten minutes to use it or lose it. Laszlo gave me the 6 digits that appeared on his phone. I put them in. Code accepted. Make transfer. "Sorry, we cannot complete that action at this time."

I called the bank. I explained the whole process. She had no clue why it did not go through, but could tell it didn't. She referred me to the technical unit. I called them. The guy said I would need to remain logged into the error screen while at the same time calling him and having my friend with the mobile phone on the line also. It sounded like a bizarre juggling act. I don't want to play this game. We spoke further. Eureka! The first call and code is only to register the phone. Then you send the code again to complete the transfer. Viola! I didn't want to bother Laszlo again, so I called my friend Daphnee. Great, she was home. I sent and received the code to validate her phone followed by another go around to get the transfer code. Done, accepted, congratulations you have money. 

I was allowed to rest easy for an hour when I was checking my mail. There was a notice from the Bank of America fraud unit telling me if I did not call them immediately, they would put the kabash on the transfer. There were concerns about fraud and money laundering. Of for love of cold hard cash, not again. 

I called in immediately so we could play twenty questions. One was the number on my driver's license. I did not want to tell her it expired 7 years ago, but I still know it by heart. After answering all of the routine questions, she wanted to know why I was transferring so much money. The only reason I gave was to buy a property. What I did not say was that Bank of America was the corporate form of Satan in all of his guises, which made us want to distance ourselves to the fullest extent possible at the moment. 

We were one step closer. The next step was to contact the company that administered the stocks that my father gave us twelve years ago. They have been stable all of these years, but never earning any more than they lost. Time to cash in the chips, but I don't want to pay taxes on it in 2012. The broker and I arranged for me to sell them on my birthday, January 5th. That seemed like a lucky day, here is hoping.

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Mobile Madness

I was actually working with diligence on my book proposal today when my mobile rings; caller is unidentified. No problem, there are many students who call me who I don't have plugged into my phone, so I answer it. Hungarian spiel not taking a breath, not letting me get a word in. Finally, I decide rudeness in breaking in will save them from dehydrating. What? "English? Wait please." 

The new person comes on the line, it is my mobile phone carrier telling me the plan I have had since January 2002 is being discontinued so I have to choose a new plan. Okay fine, let's do it.  First I need to give them all of my personal details, but then comes the hard part. What is my security pin number? Sorry, don't know it. I choose it over 9 years ago. Well then what is the &(@(*$^(# number on your original contract? Excuse me? That was over 9 years ago also; do you think  have it in my back pocket awaiting your call? Sorry, but I will have to look for it. This persistent Miss, told me to go ahead and look. In the back of my mind, I knew where it was, but the conveyor belt from the back of my mind to the front of my mind was out of service, so it never appeared. 

I took random guesses at the pin number, but none of them worked, because she said it was 4 digits long. We finally agreed that I would have to go into their store to work this out. This is a fate worse than taking a trip to hell and back. When I asked if I could do this over the weekend, she said "Good luck and be prepared to use both your arms and legs to act out what you need, but try to tell them we called you first." I have had experiences with Vodafone going alone; it has never been an experience that has made me what to send flowers of thanks afterwards. I decided to bite the bullet, go this evening and get it over with. 

According to my number 414, I obtained it at 5:14pm on July 1, 2011 using English > small business > change in services. The numbers flashing on the electronic board were all in the 900s. Not a good sign. I had no where to go and nothing to rush off to, so I sat it out. By 6:02, my number appeared and I rushed over to speak to Tamas. Tamas is wearing a mandatory Vodafone uniform shirt, but his has a British flag under his name. My spirits soar as I share with him why I am there. He is staring at me as I speak with intent interest, until I finish when he shares his dirty little secret. He doesn't speak English. I wanted to rip that little Union Jack from his chest. Thinking back to the advice of having to incorporate hand and leg movements, I went into my routine.

Success! Tamas was able to show me new plans which were approximately equal to the current costs. I agreed, signed, and asked about why my voice mail has not worked for the last 2 phones I have had. Stupid me, asking someone who clearly is an English fraudulent speaker, but I lost my head. He did point me to the corner where they answer questions such as mine and I did not have to get a new ticket either.

Not being one to have a service that is included in my contract and not being able to use it, I went to the corner like a bad pupil waiting for the principal to come scold me. A young man came to my aid immediately, spoke good English and started in on the problem. The problem was he could not fix the problem. After pulling numerous others into this band of brothers to solve this issue, they could not. I kept saying we should just forget about it; I have done without this long, it really doesn't matter that much. They would have none of that talk. They were determined. Then the thought came to them that the SIM card was too old. Tamas number 2 had to take over from here. Tamas #2 did speak English well. He replaced the SIM card without changing my phone number. 

Now the voice mail supposedly works, though I am reluctant to try it, but either way our SIM cards were outdated and in need of replacement. Now I have to find Ron's phone, charge it and bring it back on Sunday to catch Tamas #2 before he goes on vacation.  

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Phone Calls

Our land line phone has stopped working. However, we did not realize it for some time. We thought we were getting crank calls. We would answer the phone and could hear talking and background noises, but no one would respond to our speaking and then hang up. The first thought was telemarketers.


Our friend Anna called, did not get a response from us, so called my mobile. That is when we realized there was something wrong. Now the question lingers: is it the phone or the service? Yesterday, I had a get-together with a former student, Imola. I was so looking forward to spending quality time with her. Ron was invited, but he thought he was booked to give a tour at the museum. As I was leaving, he was calling the cable company to have them check on the phone line, but was thinking that he would leave shortly for the museum.


I met Imola at one of my favorite coffee shops and we are enmeshed in a deep conversation when my mobile rings. When I looked at the caller ID, I see my own face with our home number. I answer it, but nothing. Strange! Ron should have left for the museum by this time. Thinking it may have been a misfire, I ignored it. Five minutes later, it rang again. Same thing. I answered and said "If you can hear me, call from a mobile phone." I then called Ron, only to get a busy signal. He should be at the museum by now. If he turned his phone off would I get a busy signal?


This cycle repeated every 5-7 minutes for the next half hour. As much as I was trying to concentrate on the conversation while enjoying Imola's company, I had mental flashes of Ron on the floor. The scenario in my head was that he crawled to the land line trying to reach me for help. The repeated calls were a signal that he was in danger, needing me to rescue him. The busy signal on his mobile was easily dismissed. I had bought him a new Samsung Galaxy i900, but he was still not used to its functions. He must have dialed someone and left it on. Fear and concern are mounting. I am getting edgier by the minute and soon that is reduced to by the second. Finally, I apologize and explain I need to go.


After rushing home, I am preparing myself for what I may find. My heart is pounding like African drums signalling dangers ahead. I run in the door and Ron is standing there, haggard looking, but otherwise nothing traumatic. I jump into my litany of concerns accusing him of causing my distress.

He was on the phone with the cable company who provides our phone. They had him try a multitude of different things, but after each one, had him test the phone. He did so by calling my mobile after each and every test the cable company had him run to check on the phone. As it turned out, his museum tour was not until Saturday. This will give Ron some time to have his bruises heal. The phone still doesn't work.

Related articles

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• Is The Phone Call Dying or Did We Miss the Funeral? (amog.com)

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Mobile Phone Rip-off

This post is mostly thanks to Debbie Littlejohn, the editor of WXP News. This makes me praise Europe, where my phone is unlocked, not tied into any particular company. I am free to change services whenever.

If you're a smartphone user with all the bells and whistles on your account, it can be downright scary when you take a look at how much you pay your cell phone company over the course of a year. Let's take a typical connected couple, with both people having phones on a Verizon family plan. If they don't talk much, the lowest priced voice plan they can get is for 700 minutes. That costs $100/month if you want text messaging, or $70/month for talk only. Data packages range from $10/month for 25 MB to $45/month (per phone) for the business data plan. Most will need at least the 30/month unlimited consumer plan, so now we're up to around $160/month. 

Let's say you have the Droid X phones and you want to be able to use your phones as wi-fi hotspots when you travel. That's $20/month more, per phone. What if you want GPS navigation? That's another $10/month, per phone. Now we're at $220/month. Tack on fees for Visual Voice Mail ($3/month) and VCAST video on demand ($10/month) and it's $246/month. Oh, and if you want insurance on those phones, add another $6- 8/month, for a total of around $260/month. That's over three thousand dollars per year - but wait! We haven't added in taxes and surcharges and all those other little special fees that can add 20-30% to your bill. Being optimistic and assuming only 20%, that brings your annual expenditure for cell phone service for two people to $3744, and that excludes the $400 you paid for those subsidized phones. 

Of course, not all of us need or want all of those services, and costs vary depending on provider. Sprint, for instance, has a $99/month (per phone) plan that includes unlimited "everything" (talk, text, web, email). But then they charge an extra $10/month if you have a 4G capable phone like the HTC EVO (whether or not you're in an area that has 4G service) and $30/month for wi-fi hotspot capability. With insurance, your monthly charges for two come to $284 excluding the taxes and fees - and those EVOs cost you $300 each. 

Okay, then what about an iPhone? Your family plan with 700 minutes costs $70/month (and you do get rollover). If you want to tether, the data plan is $45/month per phone, and unlimited texting is $30/month (for both phones on the family plan). AT&T Navigator is $10/month. In other words, the service prices are the same as Verizon's (coincidence?) and your iPhone 4 costs $200- 300 each, depending on whether it has 16GB or 32GB of storage (better spring for the 32, since there's no microSD slot). 

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Hail Holy Internet

For a number of people, myself among them, the Internet is like a religion. I cannot live without it. I use it to share with friends via e-mail, research for articles I am writing, checking on the latest entertainment, getting the news, and tons of other things. When I don't have access to it, things get nuts.

Yesterday morning the Internet was flaky. E-mail was coming in but not going anywhere. It sat in my Outbox like letters to Santa Claus go to the land of the lost at the US Post Office. Firefox was not working, but Chrome and IE 8 were not either. My mail program was acting very strangely. It would open and immediately freeze the entire computer. The only solution was to manually turn off the computer to reboot.

After rebooting the computer, cable box, and router yet still not finding a solution, I ran the anti-virus program for a deep scan. It kept stalling at 37% with a Chrome extension. I could not find the extension, so I deleted Chrome along with all of the other recent programs I had installed, thinking there may be a conflict in software. After rebooting the computer again, the anti-virus ran fine taking 2 hours to do so yielding nothing amiss. 

When I opened the e-mail program again, a pop-up window stated that due to an Adobe Flash upgrade, the e-mail program may not work correctly, so here is a download to fix the problem. Well, finally! 

Unfortunately, that still did not fix the problem. Thinking wide, I tried the phone. No dial tone. Tried to make a call, nothing. Aha, it is the cable company, not me. Turn on the TV, sure enough, no picture. Too late last night to call the cable company, though they have 24 hour service, I don't have 24 hour patience to deal with them. 

This morning, nothing had changed. No phone, no TV, no Internet. Strangely, I could download mail, but not send a thing. Not only could I not surf the web, I could not even belly board or doggie paddle it. These are usually the times when I have a dozen burning questions pop into my mind that need  answers right then and there. Instant gratification is only playing with my mind. 

After calling the company, it turns out there is a problem in the neighborhood. They hoped it would be fixed by tonight. I can send e-mail from my mobile phone, but it is a pain trying to type on the keypad. While I was on the phone, the nice lady asked if she could ask me a couple of questions. Anticipating a survey on customer satisfactions, I agreed, ready to blast the service. Question 1 - Why are you still sending us money. You have a credit of 44,780 Huf. You could go four months without paying your bill and still have a credit. "Please do not send us any more money." I had always hoped to be able to say that to anyone. 2. We have new faster plans and they are actually cheaper than the plan you have. Are you interested? Sure, I want faster unreliable service. Sign me right up. Tomorrow, they are coming to install a new cable modem box. As least now I will know at a much faster rate when I don't have access to the Internet and pay less for the privilege.

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Don't Leave Me a Voice Mail

Today's humor is courtesy of Doghouse. The fact is, this is exactly what my mobile carrier makes me go through, but I think it is to help me waste my free minutes. I fooled them; I no longer check voice mail messages. Uh, perhaps because I don't have anyone to leave me a message to begin with. Yea and if you have not yet had laser eye surgery, you can click on the cartoon to enlarge it for reading.

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Zanzibar, Tanzania > TanzAir > Mobasa, Kenya

It is a good thing we set the alarm; our wake-up call never came Having showered last night, we only needed to jump into clothes. Ron called for someone to come for our bags, but then we had to wait in the lobby for the taxi scheduled for 5am. It was only 4:40am. When the taxi called to say it was there, the security men carried our bags out to the car. The ride to the airport was only twenty minutes, but then it became surreal. At this hour of the morning, it is still dark out. When the driver pulled into the parking lot and shut off the engine, we did not know where we were. For all we knew, we were kidnapped and were waiting for ransome notes to go out for our collection. Our flight was scheduled for 6:30am, the ticket states you must be checked-in an hour before and gates closed fifteen minutes prior to the flight. It was not until the driver offered to go see what was happening since there were no lights on in the termimal, we didn't realize we really were at the airport.

When the driver returned, he said the only people there were security and nothing was open  yet. He was kind enough to allow us to stay in the car. What was especially strange was not not one car joined us for the next twenty minutes. Surely, there had to be other tourists flying this morning who believed the hour rule was enforceable. By 6:00, we ventured out and took in front of the TanzAir check-in desk; the next desk Excel Air had a Muslim woman agent working by oil  lamp and on her mobile phone. At 6:20am, an agent came to check us in. After receiving boading passes, we had to accompany our luggage when the put it through the scanners. I guess if it were suspect, they wanted to cut down on the time it would take them to hunt us down in the miniscule airport and do an immediate incarceration.

When our luggage passed inspection, we were given a card to fill out for leaving the country. Seeing how the rest of the infrastructure works, I am sure these cards a dumped into some pile somewhere never to be referred to again. Their sole purpose is intimidation of the passenger. We were immediately passed through Customs, and then sent to security, followed by the boarding area, a room the total size of our apartment. There is a departure tax payable, but TanzAir includes it in their fares, so we were able to pass just by showing our boarding passes. It was now 6:45am and no signs of boarding.

Finally, we were called and told to follow a security person who walked us to the plane, a Cessna. It was so tiny, they loaded our luggage into the wings. The ceiling was so low, I thought Ron and I were going to have to crawl in on hands and knees to get to a seat. With only 5 passengers on the plane, we had our choice of seats amongst the ten available. There was no barrier between the pilot and seating, but with only one pilot who was getting on in years and overweight, I thought I should watch every move he made just in case one of us was called on to land the plane if he had a heart attack. Just like in the movies, I was waiting to be the hero of the day. After we were in the air my confidence in his last heath report must have kicked in, because I fell asleep.

Landing, we ended our journey far, far away from the real planes or in reality jets. It was like we were in a toy plane and landed at the toy airport, but real people were able to go to the real airport. Hustled into a van, a worker took us through the lines. She tried getting us through Customs faster by speaking to the supervisor, but the 5 passengers held passports from 3 countries. He sent us to the African Nationals line, which was pretty quick. I had fears of having  to buy another Visa since we did not have a multiple entry Visa, but it was a non-issue.  While we were wating our little airport helper asked me what I presents I brought her from Zanzibar. When I lied about not buying anything, she suggested I could give her a token of appreciation for all she has done for us. It was worth a few bucks for her help in getting from Toy Town to Big People's Land, so she received $3. The radar signals must have gone out at that point. Another one in security gear came over to help us find a taxi, which he negotiated in Swahili. I think we paid extra to include his commission from the driver. 

We arrived at the Castle Royal Hotel Mombasa by 10am, never expecting to be able to check-in so early, but we were able to after all. This is our downgrading in service, now at a three star hotel. It is nice, but not lavish as we have come to be used to. Our first room was smallish with twin beds, not a problem, but it did have a minor musty smell. There is supposed to be wireless Internet in the rooms, but I could not connect. They sent us an IT guy, but he could not get the signal either. We walked the halls with the computer on, but no luck. The decision was made to change our room. This is much larger with a double and twin bed, a large balcony, and it sits at the top of the stairs on the first floor. This is the first hotel we have been in that has an elevator, now that we don't need it. This is also the first hotel that has not had mosquito nets over the beds.  

A nap was in order. I picked up a cold from Zanzibar with the hotel turning on off the electricity during the night. First we were cool with the fan going, then dying of the heat when it went off, then freezing again when it went back on. That combined with fumes really did a number on my sinuses, so I was not feeling too well by the time we arrived. 


After some sleep, we were able to walk to the Holy Ghost Catholic Cathedral, Fort Jesus, and Old Town. Being Saturday, there was not much open, except the fort, but the heat was a deciding factor for climbing to the top another day. We wound up taking a tuk-tuk back and had dinner at the hotel. The salad was the best I have had on this trip and the four cheese sauce over penne pasta was delicious, steaming hot, and overly generous.

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Loaded...

Loaded into the van by 7am, ready to rock or at least to drive over every single rock in the country. We had to drive back to Nairobi, pick up our train tickets for January, and then continue on to our night's lodging. I really tried sleeping some, but when you are being jostled around like bad turbulence in twin engine plane, during a thunderstorm, it is difficult to stay asleep for longer than 3 minutes at a time.

What disturbs the rest is the seatbelt. With jumps the vehicle makes, the seatbeat tries doing a Houdini act and cut me in two. I thought it and Ron said it; these vehicles should come equipped with seatbelts and neck braces.


Road side produce stands are ubiquitious and they all seem to be selling the same thing. If I wanted to buy some of their produce, I would be in a quandry who to choose from. Everyone had the same exact product. I can just hear the "Buy something from me too" chants as a person approaches one of them. They must feel like they are winning the lottery when they make a sale with chances about the same. What is scenic is that so many of them wear their native dress, not the typical Western dress.

Even today being Saturday, the traffic was heavy, causing us to stop and crawl intermittently. During these times, people are walking between cars selling things as diverse as you can imagine. You can purchase your groceries for dinner, decorate your home, or buy emetgency supplies. There were fruit sellers, men carrying framed prints ready to hang on the wall, top-up cards for mobile phones, emergcncy kits for cars, soccer balls, and even pool toys for children. Spider Man was really popular. If only they had neck braces, they could have had two sales. Up and down the street they would carry their goods hoping to trade their product for your cash.  A couple of times, we had to stop for cows or goats crossing the road. It was a long day in the van for us, but more so for Joseph. It is beyond me how someone can do this all of the time. Ron asked when he had a vacation, but the answer was when he did not have work. Out of nowhere, we heard this child whining "Daddy, pick up the phone." It was quite startling coming out of the silence. That is the mobile ring on Joseph's phone when his family calls. We would up hearing it a number of times that day.

As soon as we made it to our lodging, Sarova (www.sarovahotels.com) they again greeted us with wet cloths and juice. After a day on these roads, using the wet towel on our face, created our own Turin shroud. This is again more upscale than we anticipated. We were immediately ushered to lunch, a tremendous buffet of choices. We did not have much time to eat; Joseph had us ready to meet him for our safari drive in the Lake Nakuru Reserve. Here they are known for tree climbing lions, white rhinos, and flamingos. A couple of Finnish people who work for the Finnish Embassy asked if would be possible to join us. They did not come on a tour and to rent a car was 100 euros for the day. Joseph did not care, so they joined us. During the drive, we came across a large number of birds. The Finnish man asked me if it was called a flock? When I said it was, he asked if we used the same word for all groups of animals. No, we have a herd of cows, a gaggle of geese, a pride of lions, and a pod of whales. Not that we were going to see any whales, but I was explaning how we had different words for different animals. Then I began to wonder why? I could not think of the word for a group of hippos, though there is a special word for it and no Google access to check it out.

We were rewarded immediately with herds (if this is corrct) of zebras, and families of hyenas, and white rhinos. This reserve is too small to hold elephants as they need more room and cause too much damage to trees. Within an hour, we found 3 lions resting on a dead fallen tree, but as we moved forward, there are actually 5. The animal life was substantial and many of them were not shy about crossing the road in front of us or being close enough to enjoy their majesty. The park was known for its millions of flamingos, but Joseph was telling us that the lake has not been at full capacity since 1970. With the draught they have had for three years, the lake is disappearing and so is the flamingo population. We could see them from a far distance, but not even close enough to tell what they were, let alone photograph. We have heard a few stories already about global warning ruining the animal population. I cannot help it, but everytime I see a zebra, I want to run it over a bar code scanner and see what happens. Trivia:  Every zebra has its own set of stripes unlike the others, like people's fingerprints. A mother zebra and her offspring can recognize each other by their stripe pattern.

This lodge also had a Masai dance and chant performance, but at the reasonable hour of 7:30 pm, so we were able to watch it and then have dinner.  Speaking of which, it was again a magnificent buffet. It would be so easy to overeat at each meal, but I have been trying to diligently keep my selections sparse and the portions minimal. Even at that I feel like the Santa in the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, but I am certain it is more the sitting all day than anything else. It could all be straightened out with more water, but more water means more rest stops.

As upscale as this place is, we preferred the first place over this one.

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Vienna, Zurich, Nairobi

The flights from Vienna to Zurich and then Zurich to Nairobi were nondescript. On the long haul, we had emergency row seats, so extra leg room. The movies were on a continuous loop, depending on the channel, so one could not start and stop a movie. If you tuned in too late, you missed out on part of the movie. Our screen resolution was not the best, so we did not bother with the movies after twenty minutes of eye strain. Most of the time, we either read or slept. I think I basically slept through the majority of the 7 hours - 50 minutes of the flight from Zurich to Nairobi. The flight attendants gave us six different forms that had to be filled in upon arrival.

When we landed, we had to get entry Visas. There are separate lines for Visas as opposed to those who can enter on a passport only or who already have their Visa. One of the airport attendants directed us around the corner where there was no waiting, supposedly. However, when we arrived, the line was just as long as the one we had left. It took us over two hours in line to get our Visas. I thought for sure our luggage would have been dropped off, ripped off, and forever missing during this time. Our flight was continuing on to yet another country after depositing us here in Nairobi. How little faith I have, it was there without a hitch. 

As we left the secured area, our driver was waiting with a sign in hand. He drove us to our hotel. Along the way, the modern buildings did not escape my attention. The three story high billboards were quite alarming also; each showing the latest in mobile phones and Vodafone being the mobile carrier of choice here. Had I brought my mobile, I could have connected quite easily. So much for this being behind the times. 

Our modern and tasteful hotel the Upperhill Country Lodge, where we will be spending the next three nights has free WiFi for guests. Get a clue Australian properties.  Regardless of the sleep we had on the plane, we were still anticipating a full night's sleep here too. It is two hours ahead from continental Europe. Although, it is approaching summer, it was dark out at 7:00 pm when we landed. We were told that being close to the equator, the dusk is about thirty minutes long. Sunset...boom...darkness.

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What Has Been Keeping Me Busy

Sometimes it is not the complicated things that keep a person extra busy. The little things can be annoying time consumers.

My new phone, the Nokia N96 is all I could have hoped for, but... It seems all of my contacts from the old phone were never saved onto my Sim card. What that means is that all 300+ contacts have to be reentered into the new phone. I have looked everywhere and have not found a way to import my contacts from a file, for example, my Gmail address book.

One other problem. I can make calls, but when someone calls me, they receive a message that the number is not working. This is not a phone issue, so I will have to make a trip to my provider to figure this out.

For our university, there is a teaching load calculator we have to fill out at the beginning of one semester for the previous semester. I usually am really good about getting this done right away, but did not get to it until today. None of my BA classes were listed. I have no control to make changes, just add in the numbers of students I gave grades to. Even ignoring the BA students, I get an error message each attempt. Only the department secretary has control over this, but it seems it is beyond her time limit to make changes. We will see how this plays out.

Speaking of the department secretary, I bought her a plant today and made a "You Are Highly Appreciated" sign. The university let my health insurance expire in November. I did not know it until I went for my flu shot. It took until yesterday for it to be resolved. The secretary had to return to the health office five times. Each time, they wanted different information, which they had not told her on the previous trip. Finally, she had me bring in everything I had, photocopied it all, had me sign each sheet, took everything she needed from the Dean's office and I now have my card again.

The Writing Center, I created at the university with the ten computers I was able to get donated has been a blessing for the new courses I am teaching this semester. Only six of them were able to be hooked up to the Internet. This made teaching a blogging course difficult. After discussing it with our computer person, he stated that for 15,000 Huf, he could get a router to connect the remaining four computers, but that the department had no money. I gave it to him, thinking in a week, I would have the router and full functioning computers. Two weeks later, he told me he ordered it. The week after that he said they sent the wrong kind. If I had known, I would have gone down to the store and bought it myself. Today, he e-mailed me. He has the correct one and will set it up. Different people and cultures have such different senses of time.

On a brighter side, I finished my first assignment for the NileGuide at www.nileguide.com. It was a smallish one, but I had some good fun working on it. It was quite challenging finding the names of all of the districts in Budapest, but as it turns out, not all of them are named, just numbered. The best part is I get to continually review all that I love about this city repeatedly.

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Ring-a ding-a ling

After doing copious amounts of research for the phone of my dreams and finding that the pomegranate phone in the video below is not available yet, or perhaps in my lifetime, I settled. It was a toss up between a Nokia N96 and a Samsung i850. The Nokia won out after reading dozens of comments on the Samsung forums, where people complained that SMS would not work after about two months. It is a shame though, the phone has a camera with more pixels than my Minolta Dimage 7i, which was the top of the class when I bought it; well perhaps for that one day only. Not being able to browse the Hungarian web pages, I asked my private language student to aid me in finding a store to purchase the phone. He chose that option instead of a lesson and insisted on driving me there too. The two guys working in the store spoke bits of English. If I had had the pomegranate, it could have translated for me, but then again, I would not be there for a phone either. The salesmanship was above and beyond most of my experiences in Hungary. They really went out of their way to be helpful, allowing me to play with the phone. It has a one year guarantee and a second year for another 100 Euros. I almost opted for the second year, but realized that in a years time, I would be wanting to move on to something newer and spiffier if this should die on me. My relationships with technology do not last long. I am a fickle lover in that regard. Here today and gone tomorrow when a new pretty gadget passes by and captures my attention. This phone has too many bells and whistles to list. If you are curious, here is the web site. http://europe.nokia.com/find-products/devices/nokia-n96/specifications So far, I know how to turn it on, but I have yet to make a call. Gosh, do I really need to read the instructions?

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Pomegranate Mobile Phone

I found this ad in one of my computer newsletters. I thought the timing was perfect until I watched the whole video. If this were for real, I would be in line waiting to buy one. A minute into the video and I was salivating like Pavlov's dog. Enjoy, but don't get too excited yet. If you watch the real ad, it ends as a commercial for Nova Scotia, where you can have it all.

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Palm Treo Trilogy or Never Ending Story?

My Palm Treo 750, a phone I have come to love, has stopped dialing numbers. When I answer a call, I cannot hear a thing. On the 15th, I posted my initial trip to the repair place with a student. On Monday, I returned solo. The meck-i-nic as the young gentleman at the front desk called him was there to look at the phone. After some brief examination, no CT Scan at this point, he suggested I return in an hour with 8,000 Huf (about $45.00 give or take) and I could take the patient home with discharge papers and care instructions. Being only fifteen minutes from home, I went back, had a cup of tea, read e-mails, and then returned. Oh, dear! The patient has taken a turn. Although the dialing and receiving calls was fixed, when he turned the phone off and than on again, it no longer worked. Surgery was in order. He would have to remove all of the software and reinstall it. I should return on Tuesday at 3:00. Broken hearted, I left. Tuesday, at 3:15 I arrived with a skip in my step. The extra minutes were not to appear overly anxious. However, the smile was soon wiped from my face when I was told the meck-i-nic had a family 'program' and was not there. I translated this has 'problem' for surely if he had a family function, he would have known that yesterday. No one knew if he had worked on the phone or not. The nice young man said he would call me on Wednesday, today. I suggested after 3:00 since I had a full day at school and then a physical therapy appointment. Stupidly, I forgot my old mobile at home, so when I arrived, I expected a missed call. There was nothing. Being weary and a bit disgusted, I will wait until tomorrow and take a journey after my full day and see what is what. In situations like this, I often wonder how much different this would be in the States. I continue to remember the Gateway computer that I bought and had to return it forty-five miles away to be repaired six times within the first year that I owned it. Sure it was under warranty, but that did not make the drive or the time spent any easier. But if I had a Treo in the US, how much time would it take to fix? I really don't want to know the answer. I like to confuse myself that this is the trade-off for living in Europe.

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Palm Treo 750

My Palm Treo died on me. It is only one and a half years old. I knew there were problems when I had to do a soft reboot every few days to get the programs to work. Then it would ring, but I could not connect with the caller or when I dialed, it would not ring out. I tried removing the battery and trying it again, but it was no good. I checked the Sim card in another phone and it works without a problem. Now I have to hunt for a place to take it for service, but heard it will have to go to the Czech Republic for repair. My life with anything electronic is a disaster waiting to happen.

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