Lagos, Nigeria. 18 million people. Holy crap…
Lagos is enormous, one of the biggest cities in Africa, if not the world. For that matter, Nigeria is (population-wise) also one of the biggest countries in Africa, around 150 million folks. That’s half the US population, and more than most European countries.
Lagos sort of reminds me of Long Beach, California. Lots of commercial sea-going traffic (counted 75+ large ships waiting outside the harbor the other day), some skyscrapers, brown skyline. But the similarities pretty much end there. Yachts and hi-rises and clubs next to shantytowns and extreme poverty. The economic disparity here is plain to see. You either have the coin or you don’t. It used to be the political capital, but they moved it to Abuja about 20 years ago. So Lagos is the New York of Nigeria and Abuja is the D.C.
We don’t get to go out much here. Between the traffic and criminal elements, they keep us on the ship or the pier. But we do get to go to the US consulate (think embassy, light). They have a nice bar, pool, and other similar amenities. And the Nigerian Navy has a large presence here. Been to their shipyard and base. It’s good to get off the ship for a while, but it’s also nice to get back to our bit of the US. A dichotomy…
It’s also weird following the current Shuttle mission from the outside. Haven’t done that in quite a while. Good job on finishing the truss NASA-folk.
Fair winds…
Friday, March 20, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Skywalking at 40
If you have to turn 40, Ghana isn’t a bad place to do it. Great beaches and a walk through the top of the rainforest (or ‘jungle’…which sounds much cooler) were on the agenda.
First the beach. It’s the kind of place that folks pay thousands of dollars to fly to and stay by. There was a resort hotel with all the comforts of home (and lots of Europeans). Great bar, sweet views. Reminded me of Hawaii. Our van was late one night going back to the ship, so several of us went for a late night swim. That was an experience. Stars, fog rolling in, and small fish jumping in and out of the water near the surf line. Don’t Stephan King movies start like that….?
Then we found the only surf shop in Ghana, ‘Black Star’ on Busua beach. It’s run by a couple of New Yorkers (Pete and Katrina) that started out as volunteers and ended up as business folks. Something about ending up with a surplus of surfboards one day left by European musicians…funny story.
The waves were good and I managed to get up on the board a few times. The other times…well we amused the locals….I highly recommend the burritos there. They reminded me of the old El Lago Burrito Co. near JSC. Mmmm….football of food. Only thing that would have made it better is if the family was there to share the experience. They had a great hammock too.
Then there was Kakum National forest. Wow. It is the only place on the African continent (according to them) that you can pay to walk close to 50 meters (yes meters) above the jungle on bridges made of rope and boards. It’s the kind of setting you would expect in the next ‘Indiana Jones’ movie, or George of the Jungle (that’s for Ethan and Emmitt…watch out for that treeeee..whack). The views were stunning. Didn’t see many animals, and it was pretty warm, but wow. Amazing views. Highly recommended, unless you’re afraid of heights or shaky bridges, “it’s not the fall, it’s the sudden deceleration at the end…”
Hope you all are well. Next stop, Nigeria.
First the beach. It’s the kind of place that folks pay thousands of dollars to fly to and stay by. There was a resort hotel with all the comforts of home (and lots of Europeans). Great bar, sweet views. Reminded me of Hawaii. Our van was late one night going back to the ship, so several of us went for a late night swim. That was an experience. Stars, fog rolling in, and small fish jumping in and out of the water near the surf line. Don’t Stephan King movies start like that….?
Then we found the only surf shop in Ghana, ‘Black Star’ on Busua beach. It’s run by a couple of New Yorkers (Pete and Katrina) that started out as volunteers and ended up as business folks. Something about ending up with a surplus of surfboards one day left by European musicians…funny story.
The waves were good and I managed to get up on the board a few times. The other times…well we amused the locals….I highly recommend the burritos there. They reminded me of the old El Lago Burrito Co. near JSC. Mmmm….football of food. Only thing that would have made it better is if the family was there to share the experience. They had a great hammock too.
Then there was Kakum National forest. Wow. It is the only place on the African continent (according to them) that you can pay to walk close to 50 meters (yes meters) above the jungle on bridges made of rope and boards. It’s the kind of setting you would expect in the next ‘Indiana Jones’ movie, or George of the Jungle (that’s for Ethan and Emmitt…watch out for that treeeee..whack). The views were stunning. Didn’t see many animals, and it was pretty warm, but wow. Amazing views. Highly recommended, unless you’re afraid of heights or shaky bridges, “it’s not the fall, it’s the sudden deceleration at the end…”
Hope you all are well. Next stop, Nigeria.
Friday, March 6, 2009
20 Meters to the Jungle
One night just before I left Texas, a friend of mine invited my wife and I to dinner. Never being one to turn down going out to eat (well, pre-Africa anyway), we accepted and hooked up with a few other friends at a place called T-Bone Toms in Kemah (mmmmm….BBQ). The usual chit-chat ensued.
Upon finding out that I was making a trip to Africa, one of my other friends of the Catholic faith (we’ll call him Mike T.) gave me his medal of St. Michael with instructions to ‘throw it into the jungle’. The idea being that if God willed it, some day someone would find it and put it to good use. To be honest I was a little overwhelmed.
A funny thing happened on the way to the Jungle…I met Florence.
At least I think her name was Florence. She was very shy, young, and didn’t talk much (and beautiful as you can tell from the picture). She is an orphan in Ghana. She was having a good day when we showed up with the band and donated goods, but you could tell she that she may not have had many before then. The orphanage was well maintained, and the staff took good care of the kiddos, but there were a lot of them. Hard to give them a lot of one-on-one face time.
I knew right then that she was the one. She also cleaned up with some of the candy I had with me.
The other kids were great. Some of the older boys just wanted to have someone to talk to more than anything (so boys, thanks for letting them borrow your Dad for just a little while). One of our younger sailors was telling me on the ride back to the ship that one of the kids asked him to adopt them. The sailor was maybe 20. He was stunned. He stated ‘I can barely take care of myself’, but in the emotion of the moment he was thinking about it. We told him just be happy with what you can do, bringing joy into their lives for a little while and I think he’s OK with that. No small kids running around the ship so far…
So anyway. Mike, your Medal made it to literally within 20 meters of the jungle. But I don’t think you’ll mind too much.
Upon finding out that I was making a trip to Africa, one of my other friends of the Catholic faith (we’ll call him Mike T.) gave me his medal of St. Michael with instructions to ‘throw it into the jungle’. The idea being that if God willed it, some day someone would find it and put it to good use. To be honest I was a little overwhelmed.
A funny thing happened on the way to the Jungle…I met Florence.
At least I think her name was Florence. She was very shy, young, and didn’t talk much (and beautiful as you can tell from the picture). She is an orphan in Ghana. She was having a good day when we showed up with the band and donated goods, but you could tell she that she may not have had many before then. The orphanage was well maintained, and the staff took good care of the kiddos, but there were a lot of them. Hard to give them a lot of one-on-one face time.
I knew right then that she was the one. She also cleaned up with some of the candy I had with me.
The other kids were great. Some of the older boys just wanted to have someone to talk to more than anything (so boys, thanks for letting them borrow your Dad for just a little while). One of our younger sailors was telling me on the ride back to the ship that one of the kids asked him to adopt them. The sailor was maybe 20. He was stunned. He stated ‘I can barely take care of myself’, but in the emotion of the moment he was thinking about it. We told him just be happy with what you can do, bringing joy into their lives for a little while and I think he’s OK with that. No small kids running around the ship so far…
So anyway. Mike, your Medal made it to literally within 20 meters of the jungle. But I don’t think you’ll mind too much.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
A blog for the boys
One of the toughest things about any military deployment is the effect on the family. While one of the adults (like E & e’s Dad for example) is gallivanting around the world, the rest of the family is living their lives at home as best they can. It’s hard on the spouse (that would be Shawna in this case) who has to run the household, pay the bills, be the disciplinarian, and all the other things that are nominally shared by the couple….
But it’s hardest on the kids, in this case Ethan and Emmitt. Trying to understand why Dad isn’t home at night, missing Cub Scout meetings and holidays, playing games, watching TV, fixing the bikes and occasionally squawking at them. What did they do to cause this?
The answer of course is nothing. They are the best kids a parent could ever have and have done nothing to cause Dad to be gone for a while. It’s hard to understand when you are young (or grown for that matter), but sometimes Dad has to go away for a while. It’s for a good reason, we just hope it’s good enough to justify being gone. And it’s OK to be sad and maybe a little mad at Dad for missing stuff. But know he loves them and will call and write and chat when he can.
The fun stuff that I experience would be that much better if they were here of course. I think they would have liked the whale, and I know they would have liked the beach…especially the warm water for someone with cold feet ;). Probably try to bury Dad in the sand, I just hope they would dig me out. Ethan would like to try and surf on the board I think, and Emmitt would have liked the fish hopping in and out of the water at night.
I do plan to make it up to them in June on a vacation to Italy, but that can seem a long time away when you are 9 or 4 years old. Hang in there fellas, it will be here before you know it!!
- Dad
But it’s hardest on the kids, in this case Ethan and Emmitt. Trying to understand why Dad isn’t home at night, missing Cub Scout meetings and holidays, playing games, watching TV, fixing the bikes and occasionally squawking at them. What did they do to cause this?
The answer of course is nothing. They are the best kids a parent could ever have and have done nothing to cause Dad to be gone for a while. It’s hard to understand when you are young (or grown for that matter), but sometimes Dad has to go away for a while. It’s for a good reason, we just hope it’s good enough to justify being gone. And it’s OK to be sad and maybe a little mad at Dad for missing stuff. But know he loves them and will call and write and chat when he can.
The fun stuff that I experience would be that much better if they were here of course. I think they would have liked the whale, and I know they would have liked the beach…especially the warm water for someone with cold feet ;). Probably try to bury Dad in the sand, I just hope they would dig me out. Ethan would like to try and surf on the board I think, and Emmitt would have liked the fish hopping in and out of the water at night.
I do plan to make it up to them in June on a vacation to Italy, but that can seem a long time away when you are 9 or 4 years old. Hang in there fellas, it will be here before you know it!!
- Dad
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