May 22nd - - Bali Day 3 - - Orientation Day

At 3 a.m. this morning, I discovered a slamander in the toilet -- after I had used the toilet. Boy did he fight hard not to go down the drain when I flushed. I am very proud that I didn't scream.

Its 5:30 a.m. (5:30 p.m. DC time) and I am sitting outside next to a recessed light so I can see to write.

When it got lighter, I moved to the pool. I was still wearing my pajamas. It didn't matter as no one, except the staff, was up and about. The morning was cool and slightly humid. The roosters in the near-by village were crowing, birds, frogs and crickets were chirping. Its beautiful and calming.

I plan on spending the whole day at the pool!

May 22 - - Bali Day 2: Arrival

This is the sign in the parking lot at the Denpasar airport.

After our flight, it was a little confusing about what to do. I found two of the women I learned who were going on the tour with me and we collectively figured out what line to go to first. After paying for our entry visa we then had to stand for hours in the Cusoms/Immigration line. We were approached by a plain clothes man who said he could get us through the line in 5 minutes and we should follow him. Um, no, I don't think so. We told him we were o.k. with standing in line for an hour.

It did take an hour and it was hot and uncomfortable!

Thank goodness the tour company provided us cool, wet towels when we boarded the bus. Boy did those feel good!

Below are billboards as you leave the airport.



Is this what you think it is? It sure is! A western style, high end mall just outside the airport.



One of the monuments to one of the Balinese gods. There were many of these statues at intersections as we drove through Denpasar.

May 21 - - Bali Day 2: Almost There

Hong Kong. 12 hours ahead of the Washington DC. Longest flight ever!

We stopped for an hour in Vancouver, Canada. However, they didn't let us disembark. I had hoped we would have been able to get off the airplane and walk around a bit. Didn't happen. UGH!

I learned later that the plane was so packed because it was a holiday weekend in Hong Kong. I had a crummy seat, in the middle in the middle section. On the flight from HK, I sat between two a husband and wife. Their seats were on opposite sides of me. I don't think they were real happy about that. The woman did the helpless "Oh, I can't get my carryon in the overhead." There was no way for the man to get over to her side as the other rows had filled up and people where streaming down the aisles. Despite this, she continued to look at him helplessly saying, "I can not get it up there."

I offered to help her and she suddenly was able to get her bag up in the overhead.

So on the long flight to HK, I watched episode 1-3 of season six of Project Runway. Then I watched the movie, Couples Retreat (horrible movie). Then I watched, The Blind Side -- very good! I also did some sleeping.

We arrivedin HK at 7:02 a.m. HK time. This was 7:02 p.m. on the 20th back in DC. I have been traveling for 32 hours now.

The HK airport is very clean. It is surrounded by mountains on the norht and water on the south. When we got off the plane, the very noticible thing was the humidity.

Watching the sun try to break through is very pretty. The sun seams to spotlight different things like islands on the sea side, or a boat, or spots on the mountain side.



There were some bumpy parts of my flight to HK, I was getting sick. Only a couple more hours and I'll be in Bali!

May 19th - - Bali - Day 1: I am REALLY on Vacation!

I will admit to starting my vacation with a panic attack. Before leaving for vaca, I needed to select my health insurance coverage. I seemed to have missed the default password in the intro letter that came with all the insurance information, so when I logged in and tried using my enterprise password, it didn't work. Go figure.

I called the help number that was published saying it was available 24/7 during open enrollment. Apparently not. Two hours before I needed to leave for the air port, the Help Desk got a hold of me and I was able to log in and select my new health insurance.

Worry. I will admit that is what I did up to the point of where I was on board the airplane flying to New York. Does anyone else worry this much?

Its been two years since I've been on a real adventure. When I checked in at the airport, I was asked where I was running away to? I handed the man my passport and e-ticket information and responded: "Bali."

"Bali! You really are running away!"

Yes, running away...from the responsibilities and the stress of DC. I am running away!

Free!

Re-Entering the Blogosphere

I haven't blogged since February!

Yes, since February, I have been reduced to the quick status updates provided on Facebook. Since February my life has been very full. Work, dance classes, prepping for vacation, fostering a cat for Lost Dog Lost Cat, and volunteering at the museum.

I have a lot of catching up to do! Where do I start?

Work. Well, its been work, and that is all I have to say about that.

Dance Classes. I love them! I have learned how to Cha-Cha and Rumba. I think I like the Rumba the best. I plan on taking the next class level. I would love to meet a man who likes to dance...anyone interested in taking Advanced Cha Cha and Rumba with me?

I went to Bali for vacation. Stay tuned for the play-by-play!

Annabelle. Not sure what I last blogged about her. She is the foster cat I have had since October. As she recovered from ringworm and grew, she started walking funny. The older she got, the worst her walking got. I turned out that her knees were popping out of socket. Lost Dog Lost Cat approved surgery. X-rays closer to the date of surgery revealed that she not only had bad knees but bad hips and all would have to be repaired. She made it through double knee and hip surgery and has recovered nicely. She is now ready to be adopted. I am praying for the perfect forever home for her.

The Museum. Lots of stuff going on there! Stay tuned for updates. The new galleries for the Revolution through World War I will open next Saturday, June 5th.

Code Talkers and Their New Mission

Three of the surviving Navajo Code Talkers attended the 65th Anniversary of the Battle of Iwo Jima. While all the veterans were treated like rock stars, these three men were like the rock stars of rock stars, almost mythical. They are a rare gem, becoming rarer as the years pass. Of the 400 Code Talkers, only 100 are still alive.

These three men were on a mission this past weekend. That mission was to promote the building of the Navajo Code Talker Museum. If you follow this link, Navajo Code Talker Museum, you can get information on this project as well as see photos of the land where the museum will be built. Its a very beautiful setting.

"Marines help each other out, " Keith Little told his fellow veterans at the symposium on Saturday. "Help us build our Museum. We won the war helping each other, we are asking for your help."

The Navajo language was an unbreakable code. Amazing when you think about the complex mathematical logarithms were devised by Governments to encode information passed on the battlefield - - all broken. Yet, something that had existed for thousands of years, a native language used as a code - - never broken. Having this 'code' as an option is also amazing when you consider the US Governments history regarding Native Americans, their language and culture. The US Government had tried to "Americanize" the native peoples, sending their children to boarding schools where they were forbidden to talk in their languages, dress in traditional clothing or observe other traditions. The government tried to erase the native culture in the 19th and early 20th century. It failed.

The Japanese tried to crack the code, recording the messages being passed and sending them back to Tokyo for analysis. The analysts couldn't crack it. Bill Toledo related an incident when he had traveled to Japan to speak. He met a Japanese soldier and introduced himself as one of the Code Talkers. He asked the man what he thought of them. The man got a very angry look and stormed away.

Toledo, like several other veterans I spoke with, enlisted in the Marine Corps before completing High School. Marine Corps recruiters were looking for Navajo men who spoke both Navajo and English fluently as well as could read and write. They were not told why the Marines had those specific requirements and would not learn the reason until they were in training.

They were to be the code.

Their purpose, mission was classified until 196. For over 20 years, these men remained silent about their true contribution to the war effort. Once their role was declassified, they began traveling around the country telling their stories.

For Toledo, the opportunity to leave the reservation and see other parts of the United States and the world was one of the benefits of being a Marine. He said meeting other people, experiencing other cultures really helped him grow as a person.

After the Marines, Toledo returned home, finished school, got married and went to work. After a 30 year career, he retired and now travels, promoting the story of the Navajoy Code Talkers and their mission to build a museum dedicated to that story.

The one thing he tells young people from his trive as they consider a life in the military is to not forget their language. "So many of our young people have lost the language, you know. I tell them to hold on to it."

The thing he wants people to remember about the Code Talkers is that the code was never broken.

Iwo Jima Anniversary Weekend in Review

Weekends like this past weekend, I wish I had a laptop so I could type out my thoughts during a break. By the time I got home at night I was so tired that it was all I could do to download the photos.


Fridays event was electric. You could feel the energy in the air. I haven't felt that kind of energy since the museum dedication. The oddity or irony of this celebration was that we were celebrating the anniversary of what experience of their lives.










One of the veterans stated it perfectly when he described the feeling of both Americans and Japanese on Iwo, “None of us wanted to be there. We were doing what our countries required us to do.”

Every veteran I spoke with pretty much said, “It was HELL!”


Was I expecting a different answer? What WAS I expecting? I don't know. Its not like they were playing in the super bowl or something.








I recently saw a video out of Afghanistan's battle for Marjah. Two Marines are crouching behind a wall. One Marine's rifle is at the ready as he scans the terrain. The other Marine is on hands and knees vomiting. It brought to mind an Iwo vet being interviewed by his family in the Iwo Gallery a couple years ago.


“Were you scared Dad?” his daughter asked.


“Oh, yes!” He exclaimed, “I was so scared, I didn't go to the bathroom for five days.”


All of the veterans I spoke with talked about having nightmares, symptoms that we call PTSD today, back then it was called battle fatigue. One corpsman told me that people shouldn't have to see those horrible things. If you weren't effected by what you saw and experienced, there was something wrong with you. Any normal human being would/should be upset by what they saw.



At the symposium on Saturday, Frank Caldwell, a company commander on Iwo Jima, shared a story of a Japanese soldier jumping out of hole charging them with a sword. A Zippo tank hit him with a flame. As the Japanese soldier charged, he lost his helmet. Caldwell's Gunny picked up the helmet and tucked inside was a photo of the man they had just killed with his wife and six children. “My Gunny broke down and cried.”



The Navajo code talkers gifted us with a special serenade, the Marine Corps Hymn sung in Navajo. They made a request of the veterans and their families to support the building of a Navajo Code Talker museum. I'll post more on that later.


General Mattis addressed the veterans with a status of the Marine Corps today and the current fight in Afghanistan. While I have this all on video I will not post any of it. As you know Mattis speaks his mind. During the question session, someone asked him about Iran. Before he answered, he looked at me and asked if there was any Press in the room. I almost responded “Milblogger”. I understood his question to mean what he was saying in the room was meant to be kept within the family. I will respect that.


Colonel Dick Camp gave a great overview on the Naval Operations leading up to the Battle. I will be preparing a blog entry on that for all of the history nuts out there.


A special treat this year was the presentation made by Japan's military attache assigned to the embassy in DC. H spoke about the Japanese preparations leading up to the battle, specifically the tunnel system.


The gala event on Saturday was spectacular. I think General Amos could take a stab at stand-up comedy when he retires. He was an engaging speaker with a motivational message. It was a great evening. A once in a lifetime experience.