Today I encountered a perfect example of island life. Back on Dec 23 I got a call from UPS. My son's Christmas package sent from Singapore had arrived in Nassau and it was going to be on the 4PM flight to the Navy Base Chapel. I should explain that we had told our son that if they were going to ship presents they should ship them to the Base since they arrive quicker than through the Bahamian mail. Using the Navy Base address, packages actually go to Florida, then on to the Base via the Navy mail system. Now then, that works fine with the mail, but UPS is another story. UPS can't deliver to the base so they got the package to Nassau and put in on the plane to the base (or so we were told).
So the next day we go do Christmas Eve services at the base (no package). I didn't think much of it because it was, after all, Christmas Eve and the base Post Office was closed. So Christmas comes and goes and on the 26th I go over to the base and the Post Office doesn't have it but its probably still in Shipping, try again later.
A few days pass, this time I go to the Base Post Office, still no package so I'm sent to Shipping - nobody has a package like that, nope not here, you should call UPS. So before doing that I email Matt in Singapore and this morning his lovely wife, and mother of my extremely bright and talented grandson, sends me the Tracking Number.
So today I determine to find the package - call UPS in Nassau and Robbie isn't in right now can I call back. I call back a few hours later and Robbie takes down all the information saying he remembers the package being put on the plane to Andros. I mentioned that the package was addressed to the Base and not me on Andros, but he assured me he'd find out where it went.
Time passes and Robbie actually calls back (a rarity here). The package had been sent to the SanAndros airport (the wrong airport), and then he sent it again to the AndrosTown airport (my town airport, not the Base) and the package was signed for by 'Chuck'. Robbie then asked if I knew anyone named Chuck?
Oddly enough, I do - and he works at the Navy base. So I call Chuck and he didn't pick it up. However, he knows another guy named Chuck who works in AirOps and he sometimes goes to the airport to pick up things for the Base. So off I go chasing this new Chuck, who is not in, but I got his cell phone. Call the cell phone, leave a message. Time passes, I call Air Ops a second time. This time Chuck is there and I explain about the package from Singapore, the airport, UPS, signed by Chuck, yada yada yada - Nope, not me, I never signed for any package, haven't signed for a package at the airport for months. Sounds like you need to go to the airport and see if they have a worker named Chuck.
So, off I go to the airport (mind you the whole aiport terminal is 30'x30'). I find a worker and explain what I'm looking for and without my saying it he says, 'O dat be picked up by Chuck'. Chuck who, I ask and he says, 'Da Chuck dat woiks at da base'. Then another worker joins the conversation and says, 'Ya man, you needs ta talk wit Chuck, he be next door right now'.
So we go next door, entering the Customs Office. There stands Chuck, the same man I spoke with at Air Ops, who now remembers the package. When he picked it up on 12/23 someone from Shipping and Recieving was also at the airport so he just passed it to him, but Chuck never signed for it, he just passed it to Russ (turns out the Airport folks sign Chucks name when he picks up UPS shipments). Chuck tells me I needed to find Russ in Shipping and Recieving, he has the package, but they're notorious for losing things.
So back to St. Johns I go, pick up my ID Badge to get onto the base and the phone rings. Its a woman from Shipping and Receiving at the base. She has the package I called about earlier when I was first looking for Chuck. I tell her to hold onto it tight and I'll be right there and off I go to the Base. She has it for me when I get there and take it on home.
When I get home there is a message on the answering machine - its Chuck, he's found my package!
So I call Chuck, and tell him I got it, and thank you.
Then I call UPS and tell him I got it, and thank you.
Then the first Chuck (the only Chuck I knew when this began) calls, asking if I got the package and I tell him I got it, and thank you.
Now, here's the dilemma - its Christmas presents from Matt and Melissa and Jack in Singapore. Do I open them now, or wait for Ginni to return?
Friday, January 2, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Hello again,
It is New Years Eve and I am between services for the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. The Archdiocese of the Bahamas only has two Holy Days of Obligation, Christmas and Mary the Mother of God on New Years Day. I just did the 6PM vigil service at the AUTEC Navy Base and at 9PM I will start my drive to Cargill Creek where we will sing Christmas carols from 10-11 and then at 11 start what will be the midnight service by the time we are done. St. John's will have its service at 8:30AM New Years Day (if I can out of bed, I should get home around 1AM and will need to get up by 6:30 to meet those that start arriving around 7:30).
Yesterday a man I had never met before dropped by in the middle of the afternoon. He had walked up the hill to the Church so didn't realize he was there until he started pounding on the door. He was about 50, his clothes were in shreds and he had no upper teeth. It was a difficult encounter because he wouldn't talk. When I asked how I could help him he just looked at his feet and shuffled back and forth and, with a nervous laugh mumbled, "I be here". I really couldn't understand him and I had to ask him to repeat it about three times until I figured out what he was saying.
His unwillingness to talk went on for awhile and it was a bit unsettling with me asking questions and him not responding. Eventually he told me his name and that he had been baptized here, "Dis be my Church". When I pointed out I hadn't seen him here in a month and a half he said, "I be away Faddah" (Please know I mean him no disrespect in typing his responses like this, I do so only to give you a sense of the language barrier). He really wouldn't talk or tell me much about himself and I eventually accepted the fact he just dropped by.
His shirt was full of holes and it was obvious that it hadn't been washed in some time. I asked if he had another shirt - no answer. I had just done a load of wash that was drying on the clothesline so I walked him over there and I took down a T-shirt of mine I'd recieved from a Red Cross Blood Drive and asked if he wanted another shirt. He smiled, which I took as a yes, and I gave it to him. He took off his shirt, put on mine, then tied the sleeves of the old one around his neck so it hung down his back, then he headed on down the driveway. A strange encounter but I'm still learning things like this may not actually be that strange.
When Peter, our groundskeeper/maintenance man came by I asked him about this guy and he said that sometimes he gets 'stressed out' but he was 'a super-cool guy' and I shouldn't worry about him (easier said than done). Time will tell if he drops by again or not, we shall see.
Keep us in your prayers, we can never get enough of that kind of support.
It is New Years Eve and I am between services for the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. The Archdiocese of the Bahamas only has two Holy Days of Obligation, Christmas and Mary the Mother of God on New Years Day. I just did the 6PM vigil service at the AUTEC Navy Base and at 9PM I will start my drive to Cargill Creek where we will sing Christmas carols from 10-11 and then at 11 start what will be the midnight service by the time we are done. St. John's will have its service at 8:30AM New Years Day (if I can out of bed, I should get home around 1AM and will need to get up by 6:30 to meet those that start arriving around 7:30).
Yesterday a man I had never met before dropped by in the middle of the afternoon. He had walked up the hill to the Church so didn't realize he was there until he started pounding on the door. He was about 50, his clothes were in shreds and he had no upper teeth. It was a difficult encounter because he wouldn't talk. When I asked how I could help him he just looked at his feet and shuffled back and forth and, with a nervous laugh mumbled, "I be here". I really couldn't understand him and I had to ask him to repeat it about three times until I figured out what he was saying.
His unwillingness to talk went on for awhile and it was a bit unsettling with me asking questions and him not responding. Eventually he told me his name and that he had been baptized here, "Dis be my Church". When I pointed out I hadn't seen him here in a month and a half he said, "I be away Faddah" (Please know I mean him no disrespect in typing his responses like this, I do so only to give you a sense of the language barrier). He really wouldn't talk or tell me much about himself and I eventually accepted the fact he just dropped by.
His shirt was full of holes and it was obvious that it hadn't been washed in some time. I asked if he had another shirt - no answer. I had just done a load of wash that was drying on the clothesline so I walked him over there and I took down a T-shirt of mine I'd recieved from a Red Cross Blood Drive and asked if he wanted another shirt. He smiled, which I took as a yes, and I gave it to him. He took off his shirt, put on mine, then tied the sleeves of the old one around his neck so it hung down his back, then he headed on down the driveway. A strange encounter but I'm still learning things like this may not actually be that strange.
When Peter, our groundskeeper/maintenance man came by I asked him about this guy and he said that sometimes he gets 'stressed out' but he was 'a super-cool guy' and I shouldn't worry about him (easier said than done). Time will tell if he drops by again or not, we shall see.
Keep us in your prayers, we can never get enough of that kind of support.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Every year our Church has a manger outside the Church, this year was no different. Peter, who does groundskeeping and Church maintenance, went down to the loading dock and carried 4 abandoned wooden pallets up to the Church. One for the floor, another for the back and then the two sides. He nailed them together and created a roof of palm branches and a few boards. Joseph, Mary and Jesus look right at home in this simple manger put together, as it has been for several years, with imagination and Peter's determination. It even lights up at night!
Pics of filling our van with fuel
My son wasted no time in getting the pics from his trip on the web. One thing Mike found interesting was our routine for getting the van fueled up.
The Church Van is diesel and we need to meet a man at the airport who syphons the fuel from drums in his van into our tank. Seeing Johnny sucking on the hose to make this work was a new experience for Mike and here are a few of his pics of that experience.
The first pic is Johnny's van, our gas station. Its a spare van parked on the side of the airport parking lot that is filled with fuel cans. We pull our van up behind it to get the diesel.
Once Johnny gets the diesel flowing he keeps an eye on the tank and when he hears it coming to the top he pulls out the hose then checks the drum to see how much we took.
Here's a shot Mike took of the inside of our 'gas station'.
Mike took these pics with his phone, but he took them as a movie. Once we figure out how to post a movie you'll get to see the whole process.
Till next time. - F.
Day 1 without Ginni
Hello All - Well this has been my first day here without Ginni . I did alot of practical things, like getting the mail at the Post Office, getting a few groceries, sweeping up the house and doing a load of wash. Doing the wash here is always an adventure since you don't know if you'll have running water. Today I did but the washer took 40 minutes to fill and another 40 to fill for the rinse cycle. What we have learned is that when the water shuts off it brings alot of silt when it turns on again and the washer's filter gets plugged. Feels like its time for me to take the hose apart and clean it out again.
This Sunday I was approached by a young couple who want to get married. In this country clergy are not automatically able to marry people like in the US. The Archdiocese needs to get me approved and licensed with the Bahamian Gov and in lieu of that a priest will fly in for the ceremony. Prior to that however Ginni and I will need to pull together a marriage prep program using material from the Archdiocese. At St. Tim's we do this every six months for several engaged couples at a time. After talking to the Archdiocese Ginni and I may be doing this one couple at a time here.
This Sunday I was approached by a young couple who want to get married. In this country clergy are not automatically able to marry people like in the US. The Archdiocese needs to get me approved and licensed with the Bahamian Gov and in lieu of that a priest will fly in for the ceremony. Prior to that however Ginni and I will need to pull together a marriage prep program using material from the Archdiocese. At St. Tim's we do this every six months for several engaged couples at a time. After talking to the Archdiocese Ginni and I may be doing this one couple at a time here.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Ginni's gone home
Well hello again.
Christmas was super with Fr. Miseal and I leading a Christmas Eve service at the Navy base, then at 10PM we particpated in an hour of carols before midnight Mass from 11-12ish at St. John's. The next day we were up and out to get to Cargill Creek by 9 for our 3rd service, followed by a communion call to Anna.
Fr. Miseal and Mike were talking about language and Mike told him the word 'wicked' is used by Bostonians as an adverb or adjective meaning 'very good'. When Mike commented in the car that he had been to Church six times in 72 hours Fr. M said, "Mike is having a wicked-holy vacation", cracked me up!
Yesterday we took the van to the airport to have it filled with diesel fuel. The only diesel on this part of Andros is sold by Johnnie, out of the back of his van. He has fuel drums and a garden hose and sucks the hose to siphon the fuel into our tank. Mike had heard about this and came along. Using his phone is taped the whole event and should be posting that once he gets home - if he does I'll try to copy it into the blog for you all to see. Johnnie really is an entepreneur from the word go and this little side line helps him out, and us, so we are glad he offers it.
Per the title of this blog entry you know that Ginni has left with Mike to head back home for a bit of nursing. Our inability to sell our home leaves us with a mortgage, insurance, and taxes that our rental income falls short of covering when you add our need to buy healthcare insurance in a foriegn country. The plan is for Gin to return home to work one week a month. She plans on flying back every other month and work the last week of one month and the first week of another. We will see how this goes, hopefully hospice will have work for her on a per dium status otherwise she'll try to pick up hours with the VNA doing non-hospice related nursing for home bound patients. SO - at 7AM Fr. M and I dropped her and Mike at the airport and we both stood on the tarmack waving our hankerchiefs in the air as the plane taxied down the runway and then took off. Must have been a sight from inside the plane.
Tonight, Fr. M and I will lead services at the Navy base, then tomorrow the regular routine at St.Johns and Christ the King. At 4PM he has a flight to Nassau and then Monday on to Boston. Being Columbian he does not miss the weather in New England and seems to have enjoyed his time with us. He's said that if we ever need to get home, and he is out of school, he'd welcome the chance to come back so I guess he liked it. It's clear to me he is a great homilist, despite his difficulties with English as his 2nd language. Last week we told everyone he'd be here all week long and that this week we'd arrive early for confessions. So far 3 people have dropped by or asked to meet with him, we'll see how many take advantage of his presence this weekend.
One side note before signing off. You all know my wife has a heart as big as all outdoors. Our alcoholic friend Herbie has discovered this as well and has been stopping by daily for a free sandwich. A recent development has caused me to take him aside for a 'chat' and he hasn't dropped by since. Ginni was on the way out the door and Herbie stopped her and asked if she would help him carry some things to the top of the hill, where he's living in an abandoned bus, using our church van. She said OK, and he said he'd meet her at the end of our driveway. When she met him he was carrying two cases of beer (Guinness no less). Well she dropped him off but when I heard about it I kinda lost it. Now we're not only feeding him because he has no money - but when he gets money, and buys beer with it, we are helping him get it home. Soooo - when he stopped by around time for our Christmas dinner he and I had a talk and he now understands we are not his beer truck (among other things). It will be interesting to see how this relationship evolves after this encounter.
Enough for now, keep us in your prayers
FT
Christmas was super with Fr. Miseal and I leading a Christmas Eve service at the Navy base, then at 10PM we particpated in an hour of carols before midnight Mass from 11-12ish at St. John's. The next day we were up and out to get to Cargill Creek by 9 for our 3rd service, followed by a communion call to Anna.
Fr. Miseal and Mike were talking about language and Mike told him the word 'wicked' is used by Bostonians as an adverb or adjective meaning 'very good'. When Mike commented in the car that he had been to Church six times in 72 hours Fr. M said, "Mike is having a wicked-holy vacation", cracked me up!
Yesterday we took the van to the airport to have it filled with diesel fuel. The only diesel on this part of Andros is sold by Johnnie, out of the back of his van. He has fuel drums and a garden hose and sucks the hose to siphon the fuel into our tank. Mike had heard about this and came along. Using his phone is taped the whole event and should be posting that once he gets home - if he does I'll try to copy it into the blog for you all to see. Johnnie really is an entepreneur from the word go and this little side line helps him out, and us, so we are glad he offers it.
Per the title of this blog entry you know that Ginni has left with Mike to head back home for a bit of nursing. Our inability to sell our home leaves us with a mortgage, insurance, and taxes that our rental income falls short of covering when you add our need to buy healthcare insurance in a foriegn country. The plan is for Gin to return home to work one week a month. She plans on flying back every other month and work the last week of one month and the first week of another. We will see how this goes, hopefully hospice will have work for her on a per dium status otherwise she'll try to pick up hours with the VNA doing non-hospice related nursing for home bound patients. SO - at 7AM Fr. M and I dropped her and Mike at the airport and we both stood on the tarmack waving our hankerchiefs in the air as the plane taxied down the runway and then took off. Must have been a sight from inside the plane.
Tonight, Fr. M and I will lead services at the Navy base, then tomorrow the regular routine at St.Johns and Christ the King. At 4PM he has a flight to Nassau and then Monday on to Boston. Being Columbian he does not miss the weather in New England and seems to have enjoyed his time with us. He's said that if we ever need to get home, and he is out of school, he'd welcome the chance to come back so I guess he liked it. It's clear to me he is a great homilist, despite his difficulties with English as his 2nd language. Last week we told everyone he'd be here all week long and that this week we'd arrive early for confessions. So far 3 people have dropped by or asked to meet with him, we'll see how many take advantage of his presence this weekend.
One side note before signing off. You all know my wife has a heart as big as all outdoors. Our alcoholic friend Herbie has discovered this as well and has been stopping by daily for a free sandwich. A recent development has caused me to take him aside for a 'chat' and he hasn't dropped by since. Ginni was on the way out the door and Herbie stopped her and asked if she would help him carry some things to the top of the hill, where he's living in an abandoned bus, using our church van. She said OK, and he said he'd meet her at the end of our driveway. When she met him he was carrying two cases of beer (Guinness no less). Well she dropped him off but when I heard about it I kinda lost it. Now we're not only feeding him because he has no money - but when he gets money, and buys beer with it, we are helping him get it home. Soooo - when he stopped by around time for our Christmas dinner he and I had a talk and he now understands we are not his beer truck (among other things). It will be interesting to see how this relationship evolves after this encounter.
Enough for now, keep us in your prayers
FT
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Christmas Eve Eve
Well its the day before the day before Christmas and our son Mike has been with us for 4 days and is grooving on the Bahamas. The wind had died down and we took him to a few beaches which kind of blew him away - something about 3 miles of white sand with not another person anywhere in sight. Suffice it to say he is 'on vacation' and loving it.
I'll give him credit for attending 3 Masses on his first weekend with us and meeting all the locals. He even came in with us when we did a visit to Anna, a homebound 94 year-old blind woman we bring communion to. White sandy beaches, and desperate poverty all on the same day.
We took him to the local restaurant, 'Hank's Place' and he hand cracked conche while taking in the Bahamian decore of Hank's (everything from old Bahamian license plates to shark jaws and 5' wide turtle shells cover the walls of this local place. We know the waitresses and they were very friendly, but one we did not know came over and it turns out she wants to get her daughter into CCD. The conversation included a bit about her daughter, but also some of her family situation, so Mike's dinner conversation wasn't exactly what he expected. With that said he went with the flow and was just as friendly as Mike can be (if you know Mike you know that's a good thing).
One development we hadn't expected was that the priest who will be with us for Christmas arrived early - for this weekend before Christmas and he will be with us through Christmas and for the following weekend. This means our little mission of Ginni and I has suddenly doubled to 4 people.
Fr. Miseal is from Columbia, studying at Boston College, and over the Christmas break joined another Jesuit to come help cover the family islands for Christmas. He's been great and he and Mike have become fast friends - he has offered to take Mike to a Columbian restaurant when they return home, and Mike has offered to take him to his favorite Sushi bar in Brookline, just a few miles from BC.
What complicated his arrival was exams at BC so he flew to Nassau on Saturday, then to Andros Sunday morning - arriving 15 minutes before Mass began. To make things simpler I preached and when we were done with the 2nd service in Cargill Creek and had made the communion call he finally got to open his suitcase around 2 that afternoon, then joined us to watch the Patriots demolish the Cardinals in the snow (Yes, the CBS affiliate carried that Pat's game that week).
Over this past week we have taken Mike and Fr. M to 2 beaches - in each the beaches were all deserted and we had miles of white sand and aqua ocean.
Today we plan to visit the disabled boy up the street and another woman we have heard of but have never found at home when we visit. Fr. M looks forward to this type of pastoral one on one encounter with the people and the home visits have been great. He's been with us on two already and today will be two more.
As I type this Herbie has arrived. Herbie is the town alcoholic and when he comes by he usually leaves with one of Ginni's egg sandwiches. Today he brought a coconut and Mike is watching him crack it open with a machete and pour the milk into a bowl for us (Mike hates coconut milk). It's an interesting picture to say the least.
All in all I think this will be a vacation Mike will remember for awhile.
I'll give him credit for attending 3 Masses on his first weekend with us and meeting all the locals. He even came in with us when we did a visit to Anna, a homebound 94 year-old blind woman we bring communion to. White sandy beaches, and desperate poverty all on the same day.
We took him to the local restaurant, 'Hank's Place' and he hand cracked conche while taking in the Bahamian decore of Hank's (everything from old Bahamian license plates to shark jaws and 5' wide turtle shells cover the walls of this local place. We know the waitresses and they were very friendly, but one we did not know came over and it turns out she wants to get her daughter into CCD. The conversation included a bit about her daughter, but also some of her family situation, so Mike's dinner conversation wasn't exactly what he expected. With that said he went with the flow and was just as friendly as Mike can be (if you know Mike you know that's a good thing).
One development we hadn't expected was that the priest who will be with us for Christmas arrived early - for this weekend before Christmas and he will be with us through Christmas and for the following weekend. This means our little mission of Ginni and I has suddenly doubled to 4 people.
Fr. Miseal is from Columbia, studying at Boston College, and over the Christmas break joined another Jesuit to come help cover the family islands for Christmas. He's been great and he and Mike have become fast friends - he has offered to take Mike to a Columbian restaurant when they return home, and Mike has offered to take him to his favorite Sushi bar in Brookline, just a few miles from BC.
What complicated his arrival was exams at BC so he flew to Nassau on Saturday, then to Andros Sunday morning - arriving 15 minutes before Mass began. To make things simpler I preached and when we were done with the 2nd service in Cargill Creek and had made the communion call he finally got to open his suitcase around 2 that afternoon, then joined us to watch the Patriots demolish the Cardinals in the snow (Yes, the CBS affiliate carried that Pat's game that week).
Over this past week we have taken Mike and Fr. M to 2 beaches - in each the beaches were all deserted and we had miles of white sand and aqua ocean.
Today we plan to visit the disabled boy up the street and another woman we have heard of but have never found at home when we visit. Fr. M looks forward to this type of pastoral one on one encounter with the people and the home visits have been great. He's been with us on two already and today will be two more.
As I type this Herbie has arrived. Herbie is the town alcoholic and when he comes by he usually leaves with one of Ginni's egg sandwiches. Today he brought a coconut and Mike is watching him crack it open with a machete and pour the milk into a bowl for us (Mike hates coconut milk). It's an interesting picture to say the least.
All in all I think this will be a vacation Mike will remember for awhile.
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