Hello All:

it has been since last Friday that I have had a chance to write in my blog. The time in Cape Town has been a fast but slow world wind of a time. I am not sure if I said what Tim was doing here but let me give a short synopsis. This Education International Congress was a group of educators, mostly unions or where countries didn't have or don't allow unions, the countries themselves getting together to discuss education issues. There were approximately 155 countries represented with very diverse opinions on the same issues. It is also a congress that lends support to those countries that don't have it as good as other countries like ours. I met a lot of folks from a few different countries as well as I saw a lot of folks from the NEA that I have known as well as new folks as well. We did go out to dinner at night in groups and or partied the night away in local clubs which was fun.

Saturday I got up and had breakfast and then went to start to tour the city of Cape Town. They have this bus tours both red and blue that go to different routes. I got both tours over a 2 day period which gave me a discount. The Red Tour goes on 17 different stops. You can get on and off at your leisure which was a great way to see the city. I have posted 4 sets of pictures already on facebook. I would suggest going there and seeing them all there. I will post some here to give you a few of the best shots. One of the stops was Table Mountain. Table Mountain is a huge flat mountain that sits and looks down on Cape Town. The unfortunate thing for me is that the cable car to the top of Table Mountain was closed from July 18th to the 31st. My trip to Cape Town was from July 20th to July 30th which meant if I was going to get to the top of Table Mountain this trip, I was going to have to hike up to the top. You can hike up there and it takes about 2.5 hours each way. The bad thing is since the cable car was not running to due annual maintenance, the shops and restaurants and bathrooms etc.. were also closed. Saturday I didn't have time to hike up there or was I prepared to do so at that time. So I kind of thought that instead of doing the Blue Tour on Sunday, I would go back to Table Mountain and hike up to the top. The Red tour takes you on the tour of the Cape of Good Hope and also to Cape Point which is stunning views.

I got back after a good day of touring.. the weather was GREAT. This is winter here in Cape Town which usually brings cooler temps and RAIN!!!! But this winter has been perfect for tourists... warmer temps than usual... and Sunny skies. Saturday night the EI Congress had this huge private catered dinner even planned for us at this amusement park. This park had a huge entertainment area kind of in the style of a dinner theater. They had it covered with these big tent like tarps... with heat lamps.. it kind of reminded me of a Hawaiian Luao ... the food was great, with some local flair and some great local entertainment. I had ostrich that night for dinner which tastes like.. NO not chicken... but it did taste like beef :) We had 2 groups for entertainment... 1 was a mixed group of local music/dancers with horns .. they were very good. The 2nd group were 3 women called "3 Tons of Fun" They came out in red sequin gowns and blew the crowd away. It was a night of letting loose and just having fun. This was one of the nights that I was able to talk to people and get to meet some from other countries. It was a great evening. Then the guys went out to the local clubs and had more fun after that.

Sunday ......

My goal was to get back on the red tour and get back to the base of Table Mountain and go hiking. I didn't have the proper clothes really but I did the best I could. I wore layers, wore my running shoes and had a scarf, jacket, gloves and borrowed a back pack which I took water, some apples and made sure I had a big breakfast. I thought I am going to need everything I had to make it to the top. This is not up some hill.. The problem was .. this was the day the winds came. Cape Town has Table Mountain, another peak called The Lions Head, and then these other peaks called the 12 disciples. In reality, there are 17 peaks not 12. Well the winds are quite common that come down the mountains and thru the peaks right on into the Atlantic Ocean. It had not been windy as well as not cold and not rainy up until this day. Now when I say windy.. it was on average I would guess to say 50 mph. I was determined to get to the top of Table Mountain. I got on the red line and go to the base where the cable car is located and was going to go. Now on Saturday there were a lot of folks hiking up to the top of Table Mountain. They say that you should never go alone, take water, sunscreen etc.. Well here I was very determined to go and I started. Now up until this moment I wasn't sure what the terrain was like on this path. They have 3 types of paths from rough to what they called stairs. Since it was so windy.. I thought best that I take the best path. Now this day at the base it had to be more than 50 mph.. it was hard to just stand still let alone hiking up to the top. On top of everything there was NO ONE hiking that day.. not one person did I see which was not a good sign. Well I went to the base of the path.. which was basically steps of rocks.. rocks of all sizes, some sturdy and secure into the ground and some loose. The only shoes I had to wear was my running shoes which are great for running but not for hiking up a hill/mountain. I was still determined. I took off against all common sense and away I went. I was careful but the rocks were loose and I was getting blown around and I had to stop a few times and rethink this decisions. I was so determined.. here I was this close.. and yet so far away. I would say I got a 1/4 of the way (of the bottom part of the climb) and said to myself.. at best I am going to twist my ankle, or break a leg... or at worst I am going to get killed hiking to the top and not to mention getting down. I sat there for about 10 minutes.. arguing with myself on going, wanting to go.. and the thought of being so close and yet so far away. Common sense won out, and I went to plan B... which was the original plan A and got on the Blue Tour. The Red and Blue tour have some joint stops and since I had the the 2 day ticket for both tours, I could get on and off either tour at any time on Sunday.

However I did say to myself, that I am definitely coming back to go to the top of Table Mountain some day. The Blue tour was also great fun and it went to a few different places outside of Cape Town the city. One of the highlights of the Blue Tour was that it took you to the wine country. I went thru to 2 places and did a wine tasting at Eagles Nest winery. I am not so keen on whites like I am red wine. However I have to tell you the white wine of South Africa is WONDERFUL. It is so refreshing, light and very tasty. Don't get me wrong the reds were great as well. But I was pleasantly surprised that the whites were as good as they were. I plan on looking at whites from now on from South Africa. My friend David Hokey had said that the same thing... in fact he has his favorite white shipped from here now.

Sunday night we went to a wonderful dinner with some folks from the NEA. It was a fun filled evening with various personalities. We went to this wonderful restaurant on the waterfront. Now one thing I didn't mentioned is that at 2 restaurants they had on the menu for starters Chicken Livers which you rarely see on menu's in America. This menu had about 3 to 4 items on each section that I wanted. I don't remember having such a hard time choosing my meal. I went for the scallops and mussels in 2 different sauces instead of the chicken livers... which I was kicking myself. however I had a great meal of Cod and Seafood chowder along with scallops and mussels. For desert I had this Cream Caramel which was to die for.. along with great wine. We got back from dinner and we hung out at the bar at the hotel and more people came up to me and asked me how the climb went that day. I had to tell them I didn't make it and was quite disappointed. People that I knew as well as I didn't know said to me that they were concerned for me since it was so windy that day. Sometimes you just don't know the impact you have on others.

Monday

Monday brought another day of sightseeing. The day was sunny and somewhat warm, and NO wind.. I could have tried to do Table Mountain but I slept in and then timing was bad... and I thought I would save it for the next time I come back. I ended up walking around town and scoping out the neighborhoods downtown and near by. I went to the waterfront and also Green Point. I got back Monday afternoon late. I did some running in the gym at the hotel. That night was the EI awards ceremony and dinner night. They awarded 2 teachers with 2 awards. A french woman from Quebec won one of them and she was there to accept her award and the 2nd woman was a teacher from Turkey. That country is not so good and she had been arrested for going against the government and wasn't able to leave the country. She is awaiting her last appeal which will take place in September. 2 of her colleages were there to accept the award. This dinner was basically the entire congress and was quite a dressy affair. Some of the countries in Africa have some wonderful native dress up clothes. I really felt like I was a part of something so much bigger than just America... that we are part of the world.. and it was a wonderful feeling to be able to talk to folks, and learn a little bit of their world and culture of their country. That night the guys and I went out to the clubs for some fun. Only a few brought what we were calling the + ones.. spouses or boyfriends etc. I had kind of started joking to other NEA folks that I was going to start a caucus for + ones... it kind of took a life of it's own when strangers that I didn't know started calling me + one. One of the NEA wives which is also a teacher was with me and you never know.. maybe one day there will be a real caucus of the NEA for + ones.. with Diane and I as co chairs!!!!. One of the highlight of the dinners was the entertainment for the evening. They had these 4 black men called Gugulethu Tenors which sang. You can search on You Tube for them. They were MAGNIFICENT!!!! They brought the house down... standing ovations... One thing about these dinners... they had top notch professional local entertainers that were the best ever in this country.

Tuesday

Tuesday I started my day with a quick breakfast and a 2 hour massage at this salon. The Taj Hotel where we were staying was a little expensive and I had found this salon a few blocks away on the weekend but it was closed. So Monday I made an appointment for Tuesday AM. It was supposed to be a 90 minute massage but it turned out to be a 2 hour one after all. The guy that did the massage was named Bulond. He was a young guy of 1/2 Turkish and 1/2 greek decent. If he was 30 he was a day. His face was a ruggedly masculine face but his body and personality was very boyish. Now like all foreign countries I am never surprised at anything that doesn't happen quite like it does in the United States. So here I go.. very nice place.. hair salon that does everything else etc.... I go upstairs into the little massage room, and he says that i can take off my clothes and start on my front. ok.. I say... the same as what I am used to. Well the unique thing was that in this case he didn't cover my body up with a sheet or a towel. I was just laying there naked. I thought ok.. lets see how this goes. Well he had a touch that was so wonderful. He was strong in spots and then so tender in others. I was putty in his hands. The way he massaged was more left side/right side but also firm but yet soft and tender when it came to my feet and hands. He also had a technique that was sensual but not sexual... I was in heaven. Well then it came time to turn over... and still no covering. At first for about 5 seconds it seemed a little weird... but then that feeling went away. After 2 hours I was MUSH!!!!! it was only 500 Rand which is about 80 dollars which is pretty cheap for a 2 hour massage. I also had a manicure which I needed and that was great and cheap at the same time.

I got back to the hotel at noon... but not before I made another 2 hour massage appointment for the next morning. :) A few of us had lunch at noon time and then we went to the 6th district Museum here in Cape Town. Up to now I haven't talked about the history of Cape Town, or South Africa for that matter which I will towards the end. The 6th district (which you can google I believe) was a part of the city pretty near the center of the city. The subject of Apartied is a huge piece of their history which was one of the worst periods of our time. To make this a shorter story.. the 6th district was a part of the city that maybe lived about 60,000 people at one time. They had a vibrant commercial district, movie houses, stores, and many streets of homes. This was a predominant section of town of black people. To this day there are black people, colored people (mixed races basically) and of course the minority white people. Well back in 60's the minority white people were in power and they basically made the 6th district a white person district and slowly over time forced people out of their homes and businesses and forced them out to the suburbs which were mostly into the townships. A lot of people took money to leave but nothing what they deserved. They had grown up in this district over generations... families, friends, churches their lives were in this district. Once they were being displaced they were going to all sorts of places where they had no history, not connections, and in some cases didn't know anyone. Not all left on their own free will (with some forceful ness behind it) and eventually the city literally bulldozed down the entire section block by block, building by building with the intent of building a new section for whites only. The only thing was the indignation of the people of the area, the continent as well as the world made them change their plans. For many years since aparteid ended, they have left that district the way it was left.. which now is an vast open area of grass, some trees, weeds to remember the atrocity of what happened to so many. A couple of side stories.. They tore down all the buildings and some were many stories, and a downtown section etc.. along with many homes on many streets... but one thing even the white government couldn't do was to destroy any churches. There were 3 churches and 1 mosque i believe that was not torn down and still stand today. One of the churches is the 6th district museum today along with another building 2 blocks away. There is a long and interesting story of the 6th district along with somber story of so many lives that were displaced, and in some instances that died... all because they weren't white. I encourage everyone that reads this to do some reading on the 6th district history and stories. One other story I read about in the museum was about this family of a man and wife and 2 small children. He had means to go to a suburb and not to a township and bought a small house. He also had 50 homing pigeons when he lived in the 6th district. He took all 50 pigeons with him to his new house. Eventually it came to the day to let the pigeons out of their cages. He wasn't sure they were going to come back to this new house after so many years of living in the 6th district. He let them out.. and they didn't come back... not even one. After being forced to leave the 6th district he used to drive thru the area on his way to work. A couple of days later after the release of the pigeons, he drove by the plot of land that his house where he lived once stood. That morning there they were ... all 50 pigeons on the plot that plot of land...... with a look in their eyes of not knowing what had happened. That was one of the many stories I read about on Tuesday.. so many more of lives torn apart, some destroyed, some forced to townships where there were gangs, no water, or electricity and in a lot of cases deplorable conditions. To this day there are townships that don't have electricity or running water. This is 2011 and all because of the color of their skin. Now today there are plans.. slow and in political quagmire of rebuilding the 6th district. The ones that didn't take any money have been promised a new house on their old land. I met a man on tuesday that is in that situation... but they built a technical college back in the 70's that started out for whites only but today is for all that is where his house stood. They have promised him a house somewhere else. So far they have only build 13 houses, a couple of apartment buildings and there still stands in the center of the city near downtown.. a barren piece of land that still stands starkly reminding the city, country and the world what happened in history. Oh and that man I met.. has no idea when that house the government has promised him will ever come to being. He had to be at least 70 years old and what a story he told... and the stories I am sure he could tell for hours and hours.

It was one of the most moving afternoons I have had in my life. Like my times in the Philippines as well as here it is one of the most moving times to be physically in a place where history that effected more people in a negative way took place in my life time. You look around and talk to people, see people how they live today and hear and get to know the stories of their lives and the experiences they went thru to get here in 2011..... and not be moved, not be grateful for your own life... because I don't know too many people in my life that have gone thru so much just to live their lives like I have lived mine. No matter what we have, what we don't have, what we have gone thru in life..... there is no way to compare the differences of my life and some of the people that I have met and know today in these countries. I come away being grateful for everything I have, and also a renewed energy to always treat people the way I want to be treated... to give back to the world thru any means possible and to just think of helping someone else in the world. It doesn't have to be across the world in a different country, it can be someone in our own cities. look around and give a dollar, an hour, but try to think of helping someone else have a better time at life. One more thought which I will share after I talk about Thursday that relates to this feeling.

Tuesday Night we went to the NEA dinner. The NEA probably was the biggest group of people out of all the different groups at the congress. They held a dinner at the Bay View Hotel on Tuesday night. The Bay View Hotel is a big beautiful hotel on the water over in Camps Bay I believe. I had driven by a few times and thought to myself what a wonderful place to stay during the height of the summer. Little did I know that I would actually get to go inside. They had this rotunda for a dining room.. a huge beautiful chandalier.. and draped in white clothes from the ceiling to the floor but draped on the ceiling and hanging down from the walls.. it was a magical setting with an outdoor area for opening cocktails on the water at sunset.

The guys went out Tuesday night but I stayed in and packed and got all my stuff together since were were checking out the next day and going to another hotel for the rest of our stay.

Wednesday

Wednesday I started a little earlier, to make sure I got a good breakfast... and off to Bulond for another 2 hour massage. This time he was a little firmer on the firmer parts and more tender and sensual in those times. I felt almost like he was taking my body and making it a part of his as one. It is an experience that I can't describe and doubt I will ever have again. I felt the same way but in a much different way of Craig the massage guy I had in Amsterdam back in May. Got back to the hotel and it was a bevy of people leaving, checking out... saying good bye etc. All of the NEA delegation and staff stayed at the Taj Hotel. The Taj hotel is a great hotel that has been opened for only about a year. It is a 5 star hotel that was an old bank building that also had a tower of floors built on top of the original bank. Now that I have been living in a 5 star hotel in Manila, I had something to compare it to. There were some things I liked better and then there were somethings that they need to work on. The staff was the best and had no complaints. A couple of the folks I interacted with were of the best quality when it came to service. On my survey I gave them my constructive criticisms as well as commended both Faud and Chantelle. Over all though I gave them a 9 out of 10 and a few places on how to improve. Overall it was a WONDERFUL stay.

That afternoon Alicia who is a woman that is Argentinian, and John a NEA staff person and his wife, Tim and I went to Signal Hill. Signal Hill is one of the highest areas that you can see a 360 degree of all of Cape Town. Table Mountain and the Lions Head are in the background. It was one of the most stunning views I had seen. We spend the afternoon doing that and a couple of things that we hadn't seen in Cape Town. One note on Alicia, she was a foreign exchange student from Buenos Aires in high school to a town in North Dakota... some 40 miles from the Canadian border, some 20 to 30 years ago. Met this guy in high school and eventually married, moved to this town in North Dakota and now is a mother of 4 and a wife of a farmer.. She still misses Argentina as well as loves her life.. quite a story..

Wednesday afternoon we moved to the Glen Boutique Hotel over in Sea Point section of the city. It is one of the coastal parts of the city...more of a ritzier section and they have this promenade on the water where it is a runners and walkers paradise. It is a gay B&B and since it is winter here.. very cheap. We splurged and took room #1, the biggest suite with a balcony and everything.. Wednesday night we had a final farewell dinner with the guys ... friends from NEA that are all gay, and that we had been hanging out with. I know most of them and also met a couple of new ones. We had a great dinner, and talked about the week and just had a great time.

Thurday..

Today we got up and had tickets to Robben's Island. Robben's Island is an island that was used for a maximum as well as regular prison during the Aparteid era. Nelson Mandella spent quite a few years here along with other prisoners. Ironically the political prisoners were the ones that spent time in maximum area where the regular prisoners (murders, rapists, theives etc) were in the other parts. There was also a man that was detained for years there way back in the beginning also. Our tour guide on the island was a former prisoner from 1986 to 1991 that was a political prisoner. The story he told was first hand... which makes the story so much more real. Again I can't go into all the stories but I encourage everyone to research and read on your own. A couple of stories. They had a section between the maximum prison yard and the other side that was about 4 to 6 feed wide that they had dogs patrolling at times. The dog kennels were bigger than the cells in the maximum prison cells. This was again was a prison during aparteid for black people only.

Now the story that I want to mention that I referenced back when I went to the 6th district museum is this. Aparteid years when the minority white people ruled the government and the country, as well as this city, life was not fair to non whites... not only not fair, but was cruel and unjust, destroyed lives and broke spirits and all kinds of negative things that I can not put to words that even come close to the reality of what happened and why. But one thing I am in awe of.... is this. Cape Town is one of the most beautiful places on the earth that I have ever been to. Table Mountain, The Lions Head, the 12 Disciples, natural beauty as far as the eye can see... the ocean, animals, flowers you name it.... with all the awful negative things that happened to so many people I can't help but think that God gave these people a view every day so beautiful that gave them a small something so wonderful to help them get thru the day. A small view that no matter what people did, or took away from them.... they could never ever take that view away from them. I have always thought that no matter how difficult life is, or gets, or the negative things in life that happens, there is always a positive spot somewhere... maybe in some cases it is the smallest thing... and in some cases.. we really have to look high and low for those positive spots, but I think that if we just look around in the darkest of dark times, there is always a light of hope, the thought of freedom from our burdens and troubles that will help us get thru those times. That is what I think of now when I see Cape Town and that is what I will remember long after I am gone from this city.

Now... we have one more day to go.. we have a tour with our tour guide Selwyn (www.ILoveCapeTown.com) and he is taking us to his township for the day. I have a feeling that this will be another day in my life that I will never forget. Oh yea I forgot to mention, Wednesday night after we checked in to the Glen Boutique Hotel, I walked the Sea Port Promenade for about an hour at sunset.... and tonight I ran on the Promenade at Sunset... A run I will never forget as long as I live.

So I end this entry which was a long one.. which I apologize for... we have one more day and then back to my life.. one I am ever so grateful for... can't wait to see my friends, my neighbors, Molly big time.... and keep living life....

Til the next time... live life as if it is your last.. make the moments count!!!