As Susan and I conclude our sixth and final week in Mumbai, India, I will attempt to relate the cultural impressions rather than just recounting the events. Readers of my previous blogs will know I’ve been visiting India for many years, playing music in various settings.
We have been very blessed to be hosted on this trip by our dear friend Lajo Gupta, first at her home in Dubai, and afterwards in Mumbai, where she flew to host us in her wonderful apartment there. I met Lajo forty years ago(!)
Corfu, Greece, is located offshore from mainland Greece at Greece’s northwest corner, offshore from Albania, which has a turbulent history with Greece. Corfu is proud to be Greece’s greenest island, in terms of climate.
This essay was written in March 2008, with reflections on visiting Detroit and living in Reno, Nevada. Some images are included.
Welcome to Israel Arriving in Israel less than a week ago for a short visit on the way to the conference in Jordan, their first question was: “What the _______ (insert appropriate word of your choice) is going on in the US?” To which we replied, “What the ______ is going on in Israel?” It’s complicated. I hardly know where to start. But we have to start somewhere, to bring attention to what’s going on in these turbulent times...
It is a great privilege and blessing to be able to visit Portugal twice within three months, first in December on a Viking River Cruise tour, and second in March on a Go Ahead Travels tour to Spain and Morocco commencing in Lisbon, Portugal...
We began our China tour in the capital city of Beijing. Though Beijing is a city of 21 million people, it is very clean and efficient...much above my expectations which were colored by my experience of the crowded cities in India. We toured the famous Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square on our first day, and on the second day we toured a section of the Great Wall of China.
Kuala Lumpur is the capital of the country of Malaysia. Known previously as Malaya, the country was colonized first by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and finally by the British. In World War II, it was occupied by the Japanese. It became independent after WWII. In 1963 Malaya joined with Singapore, changing its name to Malaysia, adding the "si" for Singapore. However, the confederation lasted only two years because of resistance to the potential influence of Singapore's majority Chinese population.