I Like the City of San Juan

Well, after an Easter hiatus, I am eager to finish up these cruise posts, as time allows.  I'm still digging out from all the postponed responsibilities, post-cruise, post-Holy Week!

Our second port of call was San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Before our visit, the extent of my knowledge of this city came from the lyrics of "America" from West Side Story.

ROSALIA 
I like the city of San Juan. 

ANITA 
I know a boat you can get on. 

ROSALIA 
Hundreds of flowers in full bloom. 

ANITA 
Hundreds of people in each room! 

Etcetera.  In other words, not much!

So we signed up for the 3-hour historic walking tour, which was an enjoyable choice.  Our tour guide was a Manhattan native, who had been coming to San Juan every year for 25 years before becoming a San Juan resident several years ago.  His appreciation of the city was obvious and informative.

Our first stop, where we spent the bulk of our time, was Castillo de San Cristobal, the oldest and largest Spanish fort in the New World.  This is the view from our boat, on our way into port, of the oldest section of the fort, begun in 1539.

That highest part, that doesn't match the rest?  That was an observation post built by Americans who were using the fort as a military base during WW2.

According to the National Park Service, it's not only the oldest and largest, but the "most impressive" Spanish fortification in the New World.

Here's another view of that sentry box, which looks so teeny perched atop that wall--it's really about 12 feet tall.

That's Father Freddy, a Catholic priest from India that we met.  He seemed tickled to have been assigned to cruise ship duty for a few weeks!  He led mass every day for passengers and crew.

These are not cannon balls, but mortar shells weighing 200 pounds each.

After we finished up at the Fort, we explored Old San Juan, a well-preserved section of the oldest part of the city.

These were military barracks for Spanish troops and their families in the mid-1800's, and this interior plaza is considered a very fine example of 19th century Spanish architecture.  The Ballaja Barracks now houses offices for cultural and educational organizations, and the plaza is used for many civic affairs--most notably the wedding reception for Marc Anthony's first wedding (before his marriage to Jennifer Lopez).

The streets of "the blue city" are paved with these bluish cobblestones, which actually go down about 12 inches deep, our guide said.  They were made with in England with iron ore, which gives the bluish color, and were used as ballast in boats that were emptied to make room for more valuable cargo.  As the bricks piled up, they began using them to pave the streets.  They really are lovely and distinct.



Here lie the mortal remains of explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, on whom I wrote a report in 5th grade, so I feel a connection.  He was rocked and rolled around several times before he came to rest, finally, here in San Jose Church.

This sculpture commemorates an averted attack by England in 1797.  With the British navy anchored just offshore, the Bishop went out to ask the people to pray for deliverance, and many women joined him in the streets.  The sailors saw all the torches in the streets and thought that reinforcements had arrived to help the besieged city, and they sailed away.

The government gives a tax credit to homeowners and businesses who paint their buildings in colors from an approved palette of authentic colors--part of the ongoing preservation and restoration effort of Old San Juan.  We also saw evidence of another government project on one street; there were many large containers of cat food out on the sidewalk, and our guide told us that the many cats we saw were fed, neutered and shots kept up-to-date by the government.  "And we have no rat problem!" he declared.

I loved Old San Juan.  Some day it would be nice to visit again, and see other parts of Puerto Rico too.

Holy Week--Mostly Easter Vigil--Glimpses

After the Maundy Thursday service, we process to the Altar of Repose.  Members of our congregation signed up for time slots so that there was a prayer vigil there throughout the night, as Christ's disciples asked them to remain awake, to watch and pray.  This was taken just before sunrise.  Those windows face east, looking out on Lake Michigan.

We hold our Stations of the Cross service in the gymnasium at the Kemper Center, so there is room to process from station to station.

The Easter Vigil begins with the congregation in darkness.  The priest knocks loudly on the door before the procession enters...

...and the Light of Christ is lit and spread throughout the congregation as Father R sings the ancient "Exsultet."

The house lights go up, the candles are extinguished, and we settle in for a recounting of salvation history through a series of nine Old Testament readings, with songs interspersed between each reading.

The first reading is the Creation account.  Seven children read of God's doings on each day, and seven more children hid behind the rood screen to raise a banner for each day.

Since the account of the seventh day is so short ("On the seventh day, God rested from all his work"), all seven banners were up for just a split second before the children started to release them.  You can see the first day is already on its way down.  (But I really wanted the picture because I made all the banners!  Simple as they are, I put a lot of time into them and I was so relieved that the idea worked, they looked great and everyone really liked them. Click to enlarge!)

I was in charge of all the readings, and I tried to include all ages and some new people.  This couple read the account of the Flood (with percussion accompaniment for the rain, the rising water, and the livestock).  They were so happy to be part of the Vigil, since they started coming to Light of Christ during Holy Week last year, and they said they were celebrating their anniversary of being part of the church!

Here are the Israelites, at the shore of the Red Sea.  (See it, there on the right?  It looks dark in the picture, but it's a colorful fabric.)  And that's the Angel of the Lord with the pillar of cloud, in between the Israelites and the Red Sea.

"And there were the Egyptians, advancing on them."

"The angel of God who was going before the Israelite army moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and took its place behind them."

"The Israelites went into the sea on dry ground, the waters forming a wall for them on their right and on their left."

And there's no picture to show it, but of course the waters cover the Egyptians, as they wave their hands wildly seeking to stay "afloat," then the hands slowly disappear as they sink down, and the two walls of water come back together again.

"On that day, the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious..."  (Isaiah 4:2-6, God's Presence in a Renewed Israel).


Salvation Offered Freely to All (Isaiah 55:1-11).  "Seek the Lord while he may be found..."  This expressive teenager gracefully performed what we called "interpretive movements," while her aunt read the passage.

This next one was the most moving reading of all, and I take no credit for it.  I asked the moms of these two budding ballerinas to look at the text and see if they could choreograph something, and what they came up with was so incredibly beautiful and meaningful.  Wish we had video of it!

The girl in white is God, about to cleanse Israel of her sins, which she does by removing and dropping the dirty cloak. "Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."  She made expressive movements of removing and giving a heart, and Israel came to life and inhaled deeply at the words, "I will put my spirit within you."

Then Israel followed God and imitated her movements, as the reading continued, "...and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God."  They ended in a lovely pose with each reaching gracefully toward the other.  It was just beautiful!

Without a stage, we spread the Dry Bones out in the center aisle, hoping that everybody could see at least one of them.  Three boys started out on the ground and slowly coming to life, with our percussionist adding a rattling noise for the bones coming together, and a wind sound when the prophet prophesies to the breath.

The last reading, The Gathering of God's People (Zephaniah 3:14-20), included ten children, in international costumes, being gathered--one by one and in pairs, from either side and down the center aisle--from the nations, ending with all ten children pulling in close to our reader, who did such a nice job of working with the kids while being God, speaking words at times stern, at times comforting, at times celebratory--and cuing the kids with graceful gathering gestures.  (She also was our service coordinator, attending to many logistical details weeks ahead of time!  And she also blogs here.)

The Holy Noise!  (See everyone ringing bells?)  This is when the priest says, "The Lord is risen!" and we respond, "He is risen indeeed; ALLELUIA!"  When you haven't said the "A-word" all during Lent, it is a joyful thing indeed to let it cross your lips!  (One of our visitors told me his favorite part of the service was the Holy Noise, as such a celebratory way to celebrate that moment of the resurrection of Christ.)

The first Eucharist of Easter...

...followed by songs of celebration.

Outside the Holy Fire was still burning as we left, to return again for another joyous celebration on Easter morning!

Special thanks to our photographer, Nathan J!

The Lord is Risen! Alleluia!

"He is not here; he has risen, just as he said."

Holy Saturday

"Today a tomb holds Him 

who holds the creation in the hollow of His hand; 

a stone covers Him who covered the heavens with glory. 

Life sleeps and hell trembles, 

and Adam is set free from his bonds. 

Glory to Thy dispensation, 

whereby Thou hast accomplished all things, 

granting us an eternal Sabbath, 

Thy most holy Resurrection from the dead."

(an Orthodox prayer for Holy Saturday)

Good Friday

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast thou offended, 
that we to judge thee have in hate pretended? 
By foes derided, by thine own rejected, 
O most afflicted! 

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee? 
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone thee! 
'Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee; 
I crucified thee. 

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered; 
the slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered. 
For our atonement, while we nothing heeded, 
God interceded. 

For me, kind Jesus, was thy incarnation, 
thy mortal sorrow, and thy life's oblation; 
thy death of anguish and thy bitter passion, 
for my salvation. 

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay thee, 
I do adore thee, and will ever pray thee, 
think on thy pity and thy love unswerving, 
not my deserving. 

Maundy Thursday

An upper room did our Lord prepare
for those he loved until the end:
and his disciples still gather there
to celebrate their risen friend.


A lasting gift Jesus gave his own:
to share his bread, his living cup,
whatever burdens may bow us down,
he by his cross shall lift us up.


And after supper he washed their feet,
for service, too, is sacrament,
In him our joy shall be made complete--
sent out to serve, as he was sent.


No end there is! We depart in peace.
He loves beyond our uttermost:
in every room in our Father's house
he will be there, as Lord and host.

~Fred Pratt Green

Palm Sunday

Hosanna!

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!

We had a lovely Palm Sunday service this morning despite the weather.  The temps were just above freezing, but the wind off Lake Michigan can go right through you even on a balmy Sunday morning, and it's always several degrees colder right on the Lake than it is elsewhere in town.  So we began the service with the Blessing of the Palms indoors in one part of the building, then processed out, down the sidewalk outside the building, through the chapel doors and into our sanctuary, palm branches waving, and it wasn't too bad.

I had been in charge of arranging and rehearsing our reader's theater version of the Passion reading, and it went very well.  Nice to have it over with, though!

We had a great sermon, beautiful music--including a gorgeous Latin piece with lovely harmonies--and a few repeat visitors, which was very encouraging.  Afterward, a group of us rehearsed the Red Sea reading for Easter Vigil, the most ambitious staging I'm attempting, and we all got an idea of what we're doing and we figured out what we need to do to the Red Sea so it doesn't sag so much at our next rehearsal.  I'm so grateful for a handy friend who's taking on that project.

And I remembered to take measurements, while I was in our rented space, for the simple banners I am creating this week for the seven days of creation.  Last week, I visited friends who do lots of costuming--one is Abbi, from our church--and they have a walk-in closet full of bolts of upholstery fabric, linens, satins and amazing patterns that they had obtained for next to nothing, as a bulk lot from a thrift store.  I was able to take bolts of really cool fabrics that will work for five out of the seven banners, plus the Red Sea fabric, before I even had the needed measurements.  Now I just need to buy material for the other two banners and finish the project before our rehearsal on Good Friday...

...along with a dozen other items on my Easter Vigil to-do list.  It's going to be another busy week!

Life Back Here

We interrupt this travelogue for a post about life back here....

Since I've been back, there has been so much to catch up on, but my consuming concern has been lining up readers and coming up with creative ideas for staging the readings for our Easter Vigil!  I'm in charge of the Passion reading for Palm Sunday, as well.  I started before we left, but now the heat is on.  And with a small church, so many decisions are like a chain of dominos, each one contingent upon the one before it.  (If this person can't do this, then I'll ask this other person...so I can't ask them to do that yet, until I know if this person can help out here because I might need this other person more there.) 

After a flurry of emails last week, all the readers are decided...and now it's time to coordinate rehearsals. In a couple of the readings, we are using quite a few children, and trying to find a time when no one has ballet, soccer, AWANA, drama, Scouts, martial arts, piano, drums, guitar...is proving to be difficult!

I've run into the same thing with adults, trying to get seven readers together for the Passion reading...but we're finally settled on that.  A good thing, with Palm Sunday now looming!

Now that I have the readers decided, I can start arranging the readings.  This is the part I enjoy the most.  I choose a version of the Scripture reading, then divide up the lines and assign parts to the readers.  I think about the pitch and timbre of each voice, as well as the reader's personality and expression, and I work with those in mind as I also try to divide the parts up pretty equally in a Reader's Theater format.

Others are straight readings, but with accompaniment such as music, percussion, dance, ASL or mime.  I've put other adults in charge of some of the readings, but I'll be rehearsing the ones that have many adults and kids in them.

***

With all that on my mind all last week, it was so nice to take a Sabbath rest and spend Sunday with one of my very best friends.

A couple months after I met K, we were both pregnant with our now 18-year-old daughters.  That's how long we've known each other!  She is personally responsible for introducing me to the notion of homeschooling.  She was the first homeschool mom I ever met, and I instantly recognized a kindred spirit.  We both love literature and reading, and her grace-filled way of education, filled with living books, appealed strongly to me.  I have picked her brain so often, and over the years she has recommended so many wonderful books, not just for my kids, but for me.

She lives back in Illinois, and her husband serves at our church once or twice a month, either as a musician or as a priest.  K can't always come when he does, and if it's been a couple months, it can take us awhile just to go through the list of our 11 children total and update each other on all their doings and related decisions and concerns.

I so appreciate K's perspective, because she's always been just a little further down the parenting road.  Her youngest is 15, the same age as my third, and her oldest must be 27.  She's done teenagers and little kids simultaneously, like I'm doing, and she's still got teens, like me, and she has older kids in college, and out, and married, and single, and she's now a grandmother...so I've always seen my future in her life.  She's made mistakes and she's done many, many things right, and I've learned sooooo much from her and been so encouraged by her, always, over the years.

When we lived close, we used to homeschool together, go on family vacations together, and see each other regularly at church and other times during the week.  Their family was always our "go to" family if we wanted to do something spontaneously, especially since Blondechick and B15 are such good friends with their daughters who are the same age.

In fact, here's what K and I were listening to when the photo was taken:

Her birthday is the same as Blondechick's.  And K's is the same as Bantam6's.  Papa Rooster shares a birthday with one of their other daughters, and K's granddaughter was born on my birthday.

...So many ties that bind.  We miss them!

This morning I woke up so grateful for yesterday, and full of thanks for K.

Grand Turk: We Meet Norwegian and Anglican Kindred Spirits

Our first port was at the island of Grand Turk, the largest of the Turks and Caicos Islands (a British territory near the Bahamas).  It was a short taxi ride from the dock to the small capital city of Cockburn Town, which was a sleepy little collection of quaint buildings, many of them shabby and in disrepair as a result of hurricane damage in 2008. 

Our first stop was a diving operation that was taking us snorkeling!  This was the road leading from their shop to the beach:

I think I could handle that view every day.  See where the water changes from turquoise to dark blue?  That's where the reef drops off hundreds of feet; our instructor took us there to see the "Great Wall."

And here he is--a 21 year old kid from Norway who had found the job on the internet; he'd only been on Grand Turk for five weeks!  We asked how, in Norway, he happened to get into diving?  Wasn't the water awfully cold there?  Oh, ja, he said.  Then he explained that in Norway, diving is looked on as a--how would you say it?--as a very manly sport.

I should think so.

He happened to have the same name, same spelling, as Papa Rooster!  It's the first time PR has ever met someone with the same spelling.  And he told us how to say it in the authentically Norwegian way.

I didn't enjoy the snorkeling that much, though. I couldn't see the fish and coral that well, since I had to remove my glasses to put on the mask.  The first reef we went to was relatively shallow and I saw the most there, but in deeper spots, it was all shadows to me, with occasional flashes of vivid color.   I also had issues with leaking in my mask or snorkel tube.  I couldn't figure out what was wrong, but I inhaled, snorted and gargled much more salt water than would normally be considered fun.  And I got cold in the wind as we sped along in the boat (pictured above), in between dive spots.

So I was happy to dry off and set off on a sunny walk in Cockburn Town with the vague idea of possibly visiting the National Museum on Front Street.  On the way, we passed an Anglican church and noted that we had missed their service at 9 a.m.  We passed a couple children playing, and hardly saw anyone else until we got to the museum, where we were cajoled and persuaded and offered a better rate when we hesitated.  We ended up entering and enjoyed seeing artifacts that had been brought up from a shipwreck and many other interesting exhibits.

We learned that there are a contingent of historians who think Columbus first landed in North America on Grand Turk, perhaps on this very beach:

Isn't that turquoise color beautiful?  We also learned about the dubious history of the island's lighthouse.  It seems that many ships used to become shipwrecked along the treacherous reefs of Grand Turk, so eventually a lighthouse was built.  But the wrecks continued, because the light in the lighthouse was too dim.  It seems that the local economy had begun to depend upon the valuable cargo that was taken ashore from the unfortunate ships, so perhaps a brightly shining lighthouse was not in the island's best interest.  A Lighthouse Authority of some sort replaced the original beacon with a stronger one...and there were no more shipwrecks.

I was a little surprised to see cactus on an island.  But it's native; in fact, the Turks are named for a type of cactus, the Turk's Head (not pictured).

Besides being Columbus' first landfall, Grand Turk's other claim to fame is being the splashdown site of John Glenn's Friendship 7, when he became the first man to orbit the Earth.  A replica marks the entrance to the airport:

We took a taxi from Cockburn Town out to Lighthouse Point and then back to the dock, and our driver, Anita, was happy to slow down for pictures of the horses and donkeys roaming along the roads.  They weren't really wild, she explained; they had owners and they usually returned back to their stables on a regular basis.  What if you needed your horse and he was out wandering?  I asked, and she said you would keep that one stabled or fenced; these were the ones the owners wouldn't be needing--mares and foals, or older horses.

As we passed a large church, we asked if it was the Methodist church, as our other taxi driver had said that "Methodist is the main religion of the island."  Our driver nearly turned all the way around in her seat.  "Who to' you that?"  she demanded indignantly.  "Methodist?" she asked, as if the word tasted unpleasant.  "Methodist?  No way.  Anglican is the religion of this island. How come they only got one church, if they is the biggest religion, and we got two Anglican churches, hmm?"

"Well, we're Anglicans too!"  I told her.  "In fact, my husband here is an Anglican priest."

"Well, Father, were you in church this morning?" she asked, sounding pious and mischievous at the same time.

 "Uh, no, we were snorkeling," he admitted.  "But we did walk by your church afterwards and we saw that we were too late for service.  Were you there?  Was the sermon good?"

"No," she replied, "I had some things to do.  But I'll go tonight at 7.  Now, next time you're back through here, you just bring your robes and you can come to service with us and celebrate with Father ____.  He'd looooove to have you."

I joked that those robes took up a lot of space, when the airline only allowed you 50 pounds of luggage apiece.   "Well, we got robes!" she exclaimed.  "We'll fix you up with a robe.  Father _____ would be delighted."

Then we talked about Father ____ and how he was relatively new, and about the two priests before him, and about which Bishop and Archbishop the island was under.

Later, back on the boat, we discussed our visit to the island.  Papa Rooster loved the slow pace and thought he could live there; I said I didn't know if I could relax there until I had helped start some kind of community beautification program.  I was surprised at the amount of trash we saw, plus shacks and fences that had been flattened by the hurricane and never cleaned up.  The roads were full of potholes and many buildings were in disrepair.  Clearly the economy was depressed.

But we agreed that the best part of our day had been meeting Anita!

Cruise Pictures: Exploring the Ship

So here we are, pulling out of Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale, on board Holland America's Westerdam.  This is the smaller of the two pools on board.  This is the ninth deck--the topmost deck that covered the whole ship.  Papa Rooster is taking the picture from the 10th deck, which only covered a portion of the ship.

PR had never attempted this kind of self-portrait with his heavy Nikon D700 before!  We are waiting on a mandatory safety briefing to begin, when they show you how to put on a life vest and which life boat you are assigned to--sobering stuff like that.  (No, that's not a yarmulke on his head, just his hat turned around backward as its brim was interfering with his picture-taking.)

We had a balcony room, which we loved for watching the changing seas, clouds, and ports.

The view straight down.  All pictures are SOOC (straight out of the camera).  In other words--untouched by Photoshop, so the colors are true to life!  Caribbean blues are incredibly vivid.

Our first evening and the following day were sea days.  There were activities scheduled every day, and we participated in just a few.  We learned to waltz, with two dancers from the nightly entertainment troupe as instructors.  I attended a Tai Chi class, and we watched an ice carving demonstration.  We toured the gleaming galley, or kitchen, and saw chefs creating all kinds of dishes and specialty decorations like these bread dough animals.

We ate in the main dining room as often as possible.  There was also an excellent buffet open nearly 24/7, but the main dining room had the best food and wonderful service.  Every meal was 4 courses--appetizer, soup and/or salad, main course, and dessert--which you selected from 4-5 options for each course.  There were a few tables for two, but usually we were seated at tables for 6 or 8, where we met folks from all over the world.  Especially Canadians--they must be even more desperate than we Midwesterners are to get out of the snow and ice!--including French-speaking Canadians who struggled a little to recall English vocabulary words.  It made me appreciate the amazing feats of language so many other cultures master!

On our first morning, Papa Rooster got up early and took shots around the ship.  This one was before sunrise, after the crew had sprayed off the tenth deck:

This was the larger pool, mid-ship, that they covered over at night and opened up during the day:

And this is the main staircase, midship, starting at the third deck and descending down past the second deck to the first deck.

Here's the sun coming up, as seen from the Crow's Nest, the highest observation area/lounge.

Every night we enjoyed excellent entertainment in this auditorium.  There was a ventriloquist (Patrick Murray) with a Jamaican woman dummy/comedienne named Matilda, a comedian/singer/juggler ("The Barnaby Experience"), The Westerdam Singers and Dancers, who performed Broadway-style numbers on several different nights, and a Motown group called Horizon, who were great entertainers as well as singers.

And nearly every night we went for a walk on the decks.

It felt good to walk off all that wonderful food...feel the warm night air and ocean breezes...listen to the lapping waves...and just be alone together. 

After all, that's what we came for!