Cruise Junkies
I’ve written at some length about cruise etiquette (or lack thereof). You can find it in my blog, Thinking Allowed in the archives for Jan 20, 2009 at a post entitled Cruising at the Bottom of the World. I’m now convinced that entire sociology texts could be written about this subject, and further I’m hereby positing that the social norms of any particular cruise are heavily influenced by the demographics of the instant cruisers. To wit: our recent ten day cruise of the western Caribbean. Let me explain. The demographics and the resultant on-board groupings are determined by several factors. Obviously the cruise itinerary, including the...Panama: Summing Up
I like Panama. I really do. Although I might not be willing to suffer Miami International Airport to get there again, I’m glad I went this one time. As you may know, this was one of our “Twelve Year Old Trips”. No, it’s not a trip we take every twelve years. It’s a trip we take when each of our grandchildren reach the age of twelve. It’s lost in history who came up with this idea, but it has been a really, really great one. Panama, at first glance, was not an ideal choice for such a trip, as it had little of the sizzle as some of it’s predecessor trips (Galapagos Islands, Paris, London). About all it had going...Panama: The Middlings
I told you in Panama: The Beginnings that I would come back to the subject of the Canal for the bottom line. Ok, here it is. The bottom line that is. Wow! I saw it by being on it in a passenger ship transiting the system of locks. I saw it from a small outboard as we looked for monkeys and birds, and I saw it from the air as we flew back and forth to the highlands. It defines Panama more than the pyramids defines Egypt. It defines Panama more than the Great Wall defines China, and the Leaning Tower in Pisa and the Colosseum are mere dots on the culture of Italy compared to what the Canal is to Panama. There is no other country that is defined so much...Fidel, the Embargo and More
In Cuba, every one calls him Fidel as if they not only know him, but have a personal relationship with him. In a way, they do. He has cast a long shadow over the island and those who live there or lived there at one time. He has, directly or indirectly controlled almost every aspect of their lives. Those who live in Cuba today depend on Fidel and his regime for their livelihood, their well being and even their sense of self worth. Those who are Cuban, but have left Cuba are, for the most part sustained by their hatred of him and a desire for revenge that transcends reason. Fidel was born to the middle class in Cuba, but he, of course, rejected class in...