Truth in Advertising.

One of the first things I noticed in the Bahamas were the billboards. On our way to the Kirk everyday there are several Red Ribbon Campaign billboards that grab my attention. At first, I thought they were hilariously honest. As I continue to see them everyday, I am more and more appreciative of the work they are doing here to combat AIDS, STI's and unplanned pregnancy. Yes, it is an in your face kind of way, but I must say, it seems to be more effective than what we are doing in the U.S.

I have learned that these billboards are only the tip of the iceberg. They openly talk about sex education with their children at home and at school. AIDS education is a top priority of the Ministry of Health as is treatment for those with HIV / AIDS. Medication and treatment is free, including anti-retro viral medication for pregnant mothers. The rate of transmission of AIDS between mother and child is surprisingly low in The Bahamas. It is amazing to me that a country of 300,000 people can address this issue so boldy, while we in the U.S. still seem to be scratching our heads wondering what can be done. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learned here.

So, enjoy the billboards. If you are offended, I apologize. Realistically, its out there and if we don't talk about it (better yet, do something about it) it will only continue to get worse.

Hope all is well in your part of the world.

Peace,

Keri

(If you click on the third picture, it will zoom in and you can read the billboard better. My digital camera skills are pathetic, so be amazed that it is even in focus!)

Mangoes, Mangroves or Mango Groves?

Actually it is mangroves, although I'm not sure there is such a thing as a mango grove, it may be an orchard. I will also apologize now for the length of this post. Sorry.

We took the KidsUp! kids to see some mangroves and learn about Bahamian wetlands. There were several people from an environmental education foundation that came to the kirk to teach about the mangroves before we went to see them. I was reminded how little many of us know about the environment around us. I find it strange to be surrounded by something, for example a forest, and not know what types of plants and animals live there, let alone how that part of the ecosystem works. It's not unlike being surrounded by water, like a Bahamian island, and not knowing how to swim, or maybe even being deathly afraid of it, like a Bahamian. We would all be well served to learn to live within our environment, in an environmentally friendly way.

Anyway, we took the kids to see the mangroves. Many of them, while having seen them before, did not know what they were. They are, according to dictionary.com, any tropical tree or shrub of the genus Rhizophora, the species of which are mostly low trees growing in marshes or tidal shores, noted for their interlacing above-ground adventitious roots. They are found along the southern coast of New Providence island and actually grow in salt water. (If you have not seen one look it up, you will probably find a better picture that what I have provided.) Not knowing what they were, maybe not having heard the word before they went with what they knew, mangoes or mango groves, it all pretty much sounds the same. Thats what we heard all day. . . "Look, its a black mango", or "Hey, a white mango grove". But they really don't look like any normal tree or shrub. They have a tentacle-like root system growing up from the water and down from the branches. Where the growth is moderately thick you cannot walk through.

We learned that there are four kinds of mangroves on New Providence; red, black, white and buttonwood. Each of them are easily identifiable. For instance black mangroves have pneumatophores that extend upward from the root system (like little spikes), which radiates in a star burst pattern from the center of the plant, upwards through the surface of the water allowing them to breath. They act like a snorkels for the plant and looks much like a bed of nails coming out of the water.

We learned about how the mangroves keep beach and tidal area erosion in check. We also learned that developers who build close to the water remove them and are thus stuck with the inevitable erosion of the beach which will eventually cause their buildings to wash into the sea. It has happened in the past, is happening now and will continue to happen. All the developer needs is to get their money out of the property before it becomes a future reef. It is quite sad because government protections are few and rarely enforced. Coincidentally, I just heard on the radio this morning that the new hopeful US ambassador to the Bahamas is a real estate developer from Florida. Isn't that GREAT!?

In any case the kids had a great time. We walked the tidal flats a looked for crabs and sponges, collected shells and the requisite two pounds of sand in our shoes. We also collected trash as we walked. We could go back everyday to collect trash lying around and not complete the job. It was as though a fleet of trash trucks dumped their contents along the road bordering the ocean. Another lesson all by itself. We all learned about environmental dangers to the Bahamian wetlands and what can be done to help.

Things are going well. The kids continue to learn and grow on us, some of them much like a mold; sometimes irritating, often times a little smelly, clingy, colorful and quite beautiful when looked at under a microscope. Their behavior improves each day and they learn alternative methods of solving their problems. Some have a ways to go, but they still want to be there and work so we take that as a positive sign. I am loving my time here with these kids. It really is all about building relationships to make a difference, that will make it all the harder to leave.

Pictures: Identifying Black Mangroves; looking at baby snappers and groupers (fish) in the tidal creek; a butterfly on a White Mangrove; wading in the tidal creek; playing a game in the beach.

Fun things Bahamians say...

One of the fun things about the Bahamas is the way Bahamians speak. While they do speak English, they have added their own inflections to it to make it their own. For example:

When they finish a sentence their voice goes up in pitch. We generally do this when we finish a question, but Bahamians do it at the end of most sentences, whether they are questions or not. Bahamians also talk softly and quickly, which makes it difficult to follow until you get the hang of it.

Here are some of our favorite Bahamian sayings:

What time it is?

Sunday gone, instead of last Sunday.

Take away, instead of take out.

My rubber doesn't work. (Get your minds out of the gutter! A rubber is an eraser at the end of a pencil. But I must admit when the first 6 year old made this statement, we were a little alarmed and perplexed.)

How old you is?

Where you was?

They also finish questions with the Canadian 'ey'. I think they are preparing us for our time in Northern Minnesota.

Sausage is not actually 'sausage'. It is Bologna...and they eat it for breakfast with grits.

Any woman you respect and have a close relationship with can be your 'Auntie', whether you are related or not.

One of our next posts will be eye opening, but educational. I have been surprised by some of the billboards in Nassau, but I have to say I appreciate their honesty and their willingness to address the issues in such a public way. On that note, I will leave you hanging until later.

Peace,
Keri

KidsUp!

Thursday was a busy day and we had the kids play with geometric shapes. We have the 6-7 age group and so finding something that is fun and gets them to learn is quite a challenge. They had a lot of fun! We finally got the air conditioned room because my dads group had left to go to the computers and so we took over their room! Everything is going good so far and we are having a lot of fun.

Love to all,

Mekayla

Oma and Opa in the Bahamas

Here we are at Orange Hill Beach having a great time. We found star fish and did some snorkeling. We are going to the Junkanoo Festival tonight and then the Fish Fry. Debbie this pic is for you.

My life as a pastor in the Bahamas.

A friend recently told me that our blog clearly illustrated what Kurtis and the girls do everyday, but there was no evidence of what I do during the week...much less on Sunday. So by popular request (of 1) here it is.

The majority of my days are spent at the Kids Up! program as well. Most of my time is devoted to adminstrative stuff and sermon writing, but I do manage to sneak downstairs and help out at meal time and during field trips.

The congregation at St. Andrew's Kirk is the most diverse congregation I have ever encountered. They are not only racially and culturally diverse, but economically and politically diverse as well. It is so much fun to listen to them discuss different topics because they all bring such varied outlooks on life into the discussion. They also really listen to the sermons. My two previous churches were listening churches as well, but this group of people astound me. I had one man come up to me after church on Sunday and comment how he liked a part of my sermon but wished I had done more with it. He then proceeded to give me some ideas of how I could have developed it more and then stopped himself and said, "Yes, but that is a whole new sermon isn't it?" Pretty amazing stuff.

Sermon writing has become an interesting task each week. That is not to say that I haven't always found it interesting. What I have learned is that I tend to use more colloquialisms and slang terms in my sermons than I realized. I have also found that my cultural references don't always make sense to the congregation. For example, as I was working on my 'Good Samaritan' sermon I ran across an article that talked about the good samaritan in NYC who jumped onto the subway tracks to save a stranger from an oncoming train. I asked a couple of people if they had heard of this incident, and of course they hadn't. Which means that I had to go looking for another example that was more relevant to the congregation...not exactly the easiest thing in the world. While it has been frustrating, it has also been a wonderful learning experience. I have really begun to notice a difference in how I deliver a sermon as well as how I write them.

As I began working on this weeks sermon, I ran across a quote by Frederick Beuchner which sums up my experience in working with the Kids Up! program. These kids are hungry for attention, knowledge and acceptance. I hope you enjoy this quote as much as I did.

"We hunger to be known and understood. We hunger to be loved. We hunger to be at peace inside our own skins. We hunger not just to be fed these things but, often without realizing it, we hunger to feed others these things because they too are starving for them. We hunger not just to be loved but to love, not just to be forgiven but to forgive, not just to be known and understood for all the good times and bad times that for better for worse have made us who we are, but to know and understand each other to the same point of seeing that, in the last analysis, we all have the same good times, the same bad times, and that for that very reason there is no such thing in all the world as anyone who is really a stranger."

- Frederick Buechner
from Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons

Peace,

Keri

Majestic Bahamian Sunset

Mekayla, Emma,Papa and Mema spent the day touring. We took a ferry to Paradise Island, saw Nicholas Cage's home, went to Atlantis, saw the aquarium, had our pictures taken on the golden throne, and declined to have our hair braided! We did all this while Mom and Dad worked at KidsUp! We learned about the culture of New Providence and Paradise Islands. We also learned that, as much as we may think we want to, we will not be living on Paradise Island.

We went to the other end of the island for dinner this evening -- a 15-mile drive past many of the resorts and time shares. The entree of the evening was Bahamian crack conch with fresh vegetables, pigeon peas and rice. The food was excellent, but it paled in comparison to the sunset. The dining room sat right on the water; what a splendid sight to watch the sun set as it reflected on the water. And how relaxing it was to sit and listen to the gentle waves lap up onto the shore. A picture-perfect day in the middle of a picture-perfect vacation!

Bahamian Independence Day.

July 10th, was the Bahamian Independence Day, they celebrated their 34th year of independence. In honor of their celebration I had every intention of posting the words to their national anthem on Independence Day. But as you can see, I missed it. Better late than never!

National Anthem of the The Bahamas
Lift up you head to the rising sun, Bahamaland.
March on to glory your bright banners waving high.
See how the world marks the manner of your bearing!
Pledge to excel through love and unity.
Pressing onward, march together to a common loftier goal;
Steady sunward, tho' the weather
Hide the wide and trea'rous shoal.
Lift up your head to the rising sun, Bahamaland;
'Til the road you've trod lead unto your God,
March on, Bahamaland.


The celebrations actually began the night before. There were events and fireworks in several places in town. The center of the celebration seemed to start at 4:30 a.m. on July 10th with the Junkanoo parade. People lined the streets and spent several hours watching the parade. If you remember (or want to revisit) our earlier posting about Junkanoo, you can see more examples of the costumes they wore. By late morning on the 10th, the celebrations were over and everyone either headed to bed to recover or to the beach.

When we went to pick up my parents from the Airport at 4:00 p.m. the cars were lining the streets from downtown, almost the entire way to the airport. We have never seen the beaches so full. There were a multitude of food vendors at the beaches selling fish, conch fritters, and deep fried chicken.

At one point during the day we attempted to go the grocery store, believe it or not, it was closed! It brought back childhood memories of the days when our stores were closed on Sunday's and holidays.

As the pastor at St. Andrews Kirk, I received my first invitation to a Government sponsored event. There were actually two, an Ecumenical Service of Thanksgiving and an awards ceremony. The invitation clearly outlined the dress code...morning suit, lounge suit or national dress for the men and for the women, dress, hat and white gloves. Anyone want to take bets on whether I purchased a hat and white gloves to attend the event?

Peace,

Keri

Our trip to Atlantis.

A member of the congregation managed to snag us day passes to the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island. It was INCREDIBLE! Trust us, the pictures do not do it justice. The premise is that in the 1920's an expedition discovered the city of Atlantis and the hotel has recreated the archaeological dig site and built this enormous hotel on top of it.

The picture of the building is actually about 1/4 of the actual size. It goes on forever and they are building more. We were able to access the water park, which has a water slide that goes under a shark tank. There are water slides off a Mayan temple and a crazy tube ride that ends in "the drop"! We couldn't count all of the pools, but the ocean was just over the sand dune.

We took a few picture of the more lavish things we saw in the hotel. The picture of one of the chandeliers is for our friends the Essers and the Vanderhydes. Believe it or not it is all blown glass. There were several of these is various colors throughout the casino portion of the hotel.

The bottom floor of the hotel is a gigantic aquarium, with all different kinds of tropical fish, some of which can reach a length of 6-8 feet and live up to 20 years. The fish picture we have included is of a Lion fish, it is pretty to look at but painful to the touch and deadly to eat.

There was a 'touch tank' in the middle of the Atlantis dig site and the girls got to touch starfish, conch, horseshoe crabs and sea cucumbers. There was also a little white fish that kept avoiding of the tourists...smart fish!

We spent the majority of our day playing in the water, trying the water slides and getting fried beyond our wildest imaginations. We are apparently slow learners. We did test the theory that two layers of SPF 50 equals SPF 100, we were wrong.

As we came home over the bridge, Mekayla commented that the Bahamas certainly looks different from the Paradise Island side of the world. It is eye opening and somewhat shocking to realize that people pay anywhere from $400 to $20,000 a night to stay at Atlantis, while just across the bay, people are struggling to make ends meet.

We hope all is well in your part of the world.

Peace,
Emma and Keri

Airport Security Anyone?

The KidsUp! bunch went to the Nassau Airport today. We were met at the main door, right by the ticketing area, by two representatives of the airport. No one seemed to mind that we were nearly 45 minutes late for our appointed tour. At least the Bahamian clock seems to tick the same for everyone, including Bahamas Air. If you are ever upset at US airlines' timeliness, check out a report on Bahamas Air. I think their scheduled departure/arrival times are "ballpark" times, you know, give or take an hour.

Most of the kids had not been to the airport at all. When asked with a show of hands, I counted 6 of our 45 kids. We were taken by the ticket counters for Bahamas Air, Pineapple Air, Flamingo Air (These are charters to the "out" islands. The Flamingo is the National bird by the way), the baggage handling area, past security, down to one of the gates where an Air Canada flight was boarding, out onto the tarmac then through customs. It was very interesting for the kids who seemed to have a great time.

The most interesting thing for me was that we completely bypassed security. It was a strange sight, especially for someone who always seems to be the "random" person to get snagged by security for one of those great pre-boarding security screenings. There was a line of about 10 adults and 45 kids all lined up walking around the metal detector, sending nothing through the x-ray machine all while waiting passengers were going through the process. Needless to say it was an odd experience when going through security in the US means no liquids or gels exceeding 3 ounces all of which must be contained in a Ziploc baggie, blah, blah, blah . . . Even though I am pretty convinced that none of our kids are on any one's terrorist watch list, it was still a bizarre experience.

Anyway, a few pictures are included. Enjoy the Friendly Skies, Kurtis

Our version of the 4th of July.

One of the families at church threw a 4th of July BBQ for us last night. It was a great collection of people! The event was thrown by a British and Canadian couple. In attendance were Bahamaian, Candaian, Chinese and American citizens. It was a hoot! We had a lovely time and even managed to see the end of the fireworks from Atlantis. Nothing like Thunder of Louisville, but enough to make us feel like we had celebrated properly. We also discovered a new game, 'Blockus'. It is a board game that is played somewhat like Tetris. We plan on finding it when we get home, the math geeks in our family will love it!

We continue to enjoy our time here and we learn something new daily. The Bush adminstration's antics with Scooter Libby has made the papers here for the last several days. I find it interesting to hear people comment on our government and their view of how riddled our system is with corruption and immorality. While I know that we don't have a perfect system and I will be the first to point out we have made our fair share of mistakes, it is still strange to hear other people point out our weaknesses. It is also eye opening to realize that the rest of the world does not idealize our government. In fact, it provides them with a bit of entertainment every now and then.

Hope all is well in your part of the world.

Peace,
Keri

Happy Independence Day (in the U.S.)

Happy "Fourth of July" everyone. We were thinking today that we would probably be in Logan, sitting around at Kevin and Lynn's watching the parade, eating brats, burgers, potato salad then going to see fireworks. None of that here . . . today. (Although we did see a van on the road that had two American Flags waving and a Red, White and Blue ribbon on the front.)

Bahamian Independence day is on July 10. This year marks their 34th year of independence from being governed by the British. While they are still a commonwealth they enjoy their own government and the elections that go along with them. They just had their elections in May and a new party was elected into power. There are sill the remnants of the election; campaign signs, t-shirts and the almost daily newspaper article or opinion critical of either party. We will give you more information about their Independence Day celebrations next week.

Today we spent the day on field trips going to The Bahamas National Trust and to the swimming pool. The BNT is like our National Park system. The park here in the Nassau area is called "The Retreat" and is part of the Trust system. This particular park is more like a botanical garden which houses native plant species. There is a problem throughout the islands with deforestation due to construction and demand for the tropical woods they have here. It was a great walk and environmental lesson. I have included pictures from out trip there. The white flower is one variety of native Frangipani. It is a very fragrant flower which is used in making perfumes. There is also one of the many spiders found throughout the park. The last one, dark yellow, is a False Bird of Paradise.

Tonight we are going to the Robert's (You may remember my mentioning them in an earlier post, Ros and Eddie, Julia and Sopie) for a cookout in honor of our Independence Day. I'm not sure if we will be the only Americans there or not but I do know that England, Canada and The Bahamas will be represented along with us. More details, if interesting, later.

Peace - Kurtis

Cabbage Beach

Today we all went to Paradise Island. It was a beautiful place it was very hot and the sky was blue for the for the first time in a long time. The island is just to the north of Nassau. We had to take a toll bridge to get there. It cost $1.00.
It was very sandy and not so much rocky like the other places we have been. The water was so very green and you could see the sand through it even though you couldn't touch the bottom, it was amazing. We saw tons of people on jet skies and the parasailors were an amazing sight to see. We saw the Alantis Resort. It was absolutely huge. The only bad thing is that on our way home we got slowed down in a huge amount of traffic but other wise we had a great day and look forward to another. - Emma

KidsUp! - Day 2

Things went much better today. There are still a few kinks to work out but the kids are getting into the daily routine.

We have about 55 kids ranging in age from 6-12 (although we have few older ones who have younger siblings). They are divided into 6 manageable groups with one or two teachers per group. We are focusing on reading and math skills with a little computer skill building and a lot of field trips and recreation activities. We will be swimming twice a week, go on various field trips twice a week and go to the beach for a full day every other Friday.

We serve them two meals and a snack every day. Some of the menu items are quite different from food in the U.S. Yesterday we had grits and sausage for breakfast. The grits were nothing new but the sausage was really bologna which had been cut into small pieces and cooked with onions, green peppers and tomato paste. This same method of cooking is used for corned beef (which we had yesterday for lunch and is referred to as "Fire Engine") and tuna. This morning we had some really great oatmeal which was cooked then finished with sweetened condensed milk and was served with banana. Today for lunch was tuna salad sandwiches. So we are trying some new things. Both Emma and Mekayla liked the "sausage", minus the grits, and the "Fire Engine".

Things are off to a great start and will only get better from here. I have included a couple of pictures. One is of my group which I am teaching with my partner, Stephan (who is Jackie's brother and is in teacher training at the College of The Bahamas). The other is of the group that Mekayla and Emma are helping out with, this is the youngest, and biggest group.

Tomorrow my group goes on a field trip to The Bahamas National Trust. This is a nature conservancy with many endangered plants. I may have more information after I go tomorrow. Emma and Mekayla went today with their group and this was the report I got from them. I almost forgot, "watch out for the spiders, they are huge and they are everywhere."

KidsUp! Begins

Today was the first day of the program, so much for playing around all the time.

It was a somewhat rough start to the program. A bit unorganized and chaotic, this will only get better with time, and enforced rules. Still, the Bahamian clock continues to tick to its own rythym, both for staff and the kids.

More later when we are not so completely exhausted.

(By the way, the Junkanoo Festival continues through July. So those of you who are visiting will get to go and see the sights. As long as it does not rain . . . too much.)