This is a travel blog after all, and there can be no greater travel adventure than going into outer space. If you haven't been watching the live coverage on the NASA TV channel on your computer, you have been missing an awe inspiring adventure. It is like actually being there. The site also has videos of all the things you have missed (including lift off) and a schedule of live events to come. Today was the hook up of Atlantis with the International Space Station and I was there live as the door to the space station opened and the Atlantis crew floated in through the doorway for the last time. Throughout all of the filming - I saw the earth in the background, as I have never seen it before.
To log on to the NASA TV site - cut and paste the link at the end of this blog entry and travel along with this last historic flight. This is an quote from the NASA TV site:
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Earth Image of the Day
Atlantis Rides Into History →
On July 8, 2011, the Space Shuttle Atlantis lit its rockets and roared into space for the 135th and last flight of the U.S. space transportation system.
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Enjoy the ride! from RamblinMe
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Timor Mornings
There is a rhythm that I fall into almost immediately after arriving in Timor.
First, we were incredibly lucky to have discovered the Arbiru Hotel on the seashore on the western side of Dili. It has become home and the people there treat us as family. This photo is taken from our balcony at the hotel.
Every morning at exactly 6:15 am the first outrageously loud rooster crows and sets up the beginning of an all morning competition with the 1000s of other roosters in the city. I can almost tell the time, just by listening to the number of roosters crowing.
Sitting out on the balconey having morning coffee, there is an "Apocolypse Now" phase when you see passenger jets clearing our roof to land at the Dili airport nearby. At the same time a huge cargo helicopter flies directly overhead, taking workers out to the oil platforms. Sometimes charity and military groups join in the air traffic.
As the roosters begin to quiet, the goats and pigs take their turn. All of these sounds were a bit startling during the first week of the first trip. After three trips, they are part of the rhythm of life for me in Timor - and I miss them.
Oops - Please Forgive
As usual, I learn everything the hard way - so the animal photos to follow are both individual and combined in a photo collage. The lesson I learned is that you MUST empty your tray of photos before publishing your collage. Lesson learned.
The photo above is the cement wall along the beach highway in Dili. The little kid is looking out across the Timor Sea to a freighter that probably holds the tonic water that we couldn't find in our entire month in Timor. Because of all the red tape, the stores are continually out of something and that something is usually sitting on a freighter within sight of the harbor, like some sort of cosmic tease.
Stay tuned for future blog entries. The entries below are about the Timor Independence day Celebration held during our third visit to the island. The next sets will be about our trip to the eastern part of the island and also the crowning glory of our volunteer work - the opening celebration for the school library that we (mostly Doug) built. Before and after photos are dazzling - so stay tuned!
And Happy USA 4th of July! (and Miss Sandy's Birthday, Sandy and Adrian's Anniversary, Pat and Roy's Anniversay, Shammy and UBend's Wedding, and Lynn and Wayne's move to Los Angeles) from Ramblin Me
IntraSpeciesCelebrants
Along with locals and Malay, there were quite a few other species that seemed to enjoy the Timor Independence Day celebration.
YesWeAreMalay
This tiny little girl became excited when she saw Doug and me and started pointing and shouting "Malay,Malay." Malay means "foreigner" and we Malay are still quite the oddity. Out of 1000s of people at the Indepence Day Celebration I may have seen less than 10 Malay - and blonde hair makes me stand out even more. I keep joking about having a T shirt printed with "malay" on it, but I am not sure how the locals would take it.
AncientShade
These massive cyprus trees follow the route of the harbor edge and provide much needed shade for the revelers.
HarborCelebration
The major area for the Independence Day celebration in Timor is across the street from the Governor's Palace at the famous Harbor. This is the area where 100s of Timorese and journalists were forced to stand on the edge of the harbor to be gunned down by the Indonesians. As each person was shot and the body fell in the ocean, another person was forced to take his place. This celebration had a fair-like atmosphere but there also was a sense of history and remembrance here. In the photo Doug is heading off to another part of the celebration to take in the gambling and cock fighting. I managed to tear a ligament in my knee even before landing in Timor, so I spent the month hobbling around. Doug thankfully did all the exploring for both of us.
ProtectionAtTheGovernor'sPalace
...and yes, I did ask their permission first. It is a good idea to always ask permission before taking pictures of anything dealing with the local Police or Military and any border crossing.
TheCutenessAdvantage
The third band to play at the Indpendence Day Celebration at the Governor's Palace was an amazing group of 4-6 year olds who won hands down in the adorableness category. The stunner was that their drum playing was at the level of the high schoolers
OurCompetition
This group came from another high school and their one big competetive advantage over St, Michael's was the furry crocodiles that some of their band members wore on their heads, despite the 110 degree heat!
UnexpectedEntertainment
For every male at the Independence day Celebration, the highlight of the show was probably the gorgeous 6 foot tall drum majorette standing on top of the drums being played, and performing a remarkable shimmy in time to the music. Sorry I don't have a video for you, since it was quite remarkable.
ImpressingTheCrowd
I was amazed at how big and complex the St, Michael's band is. It includes about a dozen bass drums, an entire squad of kids playing xylophones, a cheerleading type group that build 3 people towers, an entire squad of female snare drum players, a huge contingent of marching teachers, managers, and parents, and last but not least, their very own pair of photographers (Doug and I.) There are about 2,000 kids attending St. Michael's and I am guessing that the school was empty during this performance.
OurKidsAtTheGovernorsPalace
One of the highlights of the Timor Independence Day celebration was that the marching band from "our school"( St. Michael's) was invited to play at the Governor's Palace. After almost 2 weeks of practicing, in lieu of classes, the band put on an amazing show.
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