Thursday, September 29, 2005
Back from America
Well, we have just returned from a fabulous trip back to the States! We had an awesome time with family and even got to see a few friends. I am happy to announce that we have a new sister-in-law who seems to make my brother D fly! D & S had a beautiful wedding. It was amazing to hear the impact they've made on so many people as we shared an evening all together. It will be exciting to see what they do together!
I am also happy to say that we have met the one and only grand-baby on our side face to face! Alek is awesome. He is absolutely beautiful. And I am honored to be his aunt. M & S were gracious to let me hold him and kiss him as much as I could! K & I are both so grateful for him.
So, you all probably want to see pictures of all the above! Well, as it seems this blog works, you will see the pictures before you actually read this entry. I hope you enjoy! They are a snippet of the time we had.
We are blessed.
I am also happy to say that we have met the one and only grand-baby on our side face to face! Alek is awesome. He is absolutely beautiful. And I am honored to be his aunt. M & S were gracious to let me hold him and kiss him as much as I could! K & I are both so grateful for him.
So, you all probably want to see pictures of all the above! Well, as it seems this blog works, you will see the pictures before you actually read this entry. I hope you enjoy! They are a snippet of the time we had.
We are blessed.
Friday, September 02, 2005
Dark Star Safari
I am in the midst of reading an intriguing book entitled Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux. It is a book I gave K for his birthday and have finally picked up myself. Though I’m only a couple of chapters into it, Theroux throws out some tremendous zingers…great food for thought. So below are a few excerpts that particularly struck me. I’ve tried to set up the context where necessary. We’d love to hear your thoughts on any or all of it.
Over forty years ago, Theroux was a schoolteacher in the bush in Africa. He says that when he left, Africans were full of hope. However, as time has passed, he seemed be reading about the “massacres and earthquakes” causing Africa to fall even further behind the rest of civilization. Forty years later, after completing a trip from Cairo to Cape Town, he describes Africa in the following way:
“[It is] hungrier, poorer, less educated, more pessimistic, more corrupt, and you can’t tell the politicians from the witch doctors. Africans, less esteemed than ever, seemed to me the most lied-to people on earth – manipulated by their governments, burned by foreign experts, befooled by charities, and cheated at every turn. To be an African leader was to be a thief, but evangelists stole people’s innocence, and self-serving aid agencies gave them false hope, which seemed worse.”
Interesting.
“Though we [America] become hysterical at the thought that someone might bomb us, bombs that we explode elsewhere, in little countries far away, are just theater, of small consequence, another public performance of our White House, the event factory.”
“…the Internet and our age of information [have] destroyed the pleasure of discovery in travel.”
Some of you have read this book, I know. If you want to add some of your own quotes that struck you, we’d love to read them. Or please share your thoughts on the quotes here.
These are just a few thoughts to start. More to come…
Over forty years ago, Theroux was a schoolteacher in the bush in Africa. He says that when he left, Africans were full of hope. However, as time has passed, he seemed be reading about the “massacres and earthquakes” causing Africa to fall even further behind the rest of civilization. Forty years later, after completing a trip from Cairo to Cape Town, he describes Africa in the following way:
“[It is] hungrier, poorer, less educated, more pessimistic, more corrupt, and you can’t tell the politicians from the witch doctors. Africans, less esteemed than ever, seemed to me the most lied-to people on earth – manipulated by their governments, burned by foreign experts, befooled by charities, and cheated at every turn. To be an African leader was to be a thief, but evangelists stole people’s innocence, and self-serving aid agencies gave them false hope, which seemed worse.”
Interesting.
“Though we [America] become hysterical at the thought that someone might bomb us, bombs that we explode elsewhere, in little countries far away, are just theater, of small consequence, another public performance of our White House, the event factory.”
“…the Internet and our age of information [have] destroyed the pleasure of discovery in travel.”
Some of you have read this book, I know. If you want to add some of your own quotes that struck you, we’d love to read them. Or please share your thoughts on the quotes here.
These are just a few thoughts to start. More to come…
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