Die afgelope Sondag ruk ek toe soos 'n losklong op na Fort Lauderdale om Suid-Afrikaanse geselskap te probeer opsoek - met dat my Amerikaner in die Ukraine is.
I didn't know what to expect really when I first contemplated the idea of going to the Ukraine. Not really having any connection with it, the most I knew was that it was next to Russia, a former communist state, and the only images I had of the country were those from the recent films I had seen showing at the Sundance Festival. Needless to say, I have been pleasantly surprised.
Thus, I became the seeing eyes for the unseen. I seemed to have done a good job until the very end when she insisted that she could see a beach as we were flying over Heathrow. How she could see this, I don't know as we were located in the middle of the plane. I just murmered, mmm, and when my young eyes could not confirm, she called for the stewardess. "Where are we? What beach are we at?" she asked. The stewardess, without missing a beat, replied, "Where are we? I don't know, somewhere on earth I suppose," and then walked off.
The Miami Heat basketbal team won the coveted national title Tuesday night after narrowingly defeating the Maverick's 95-92 in a thriller of a sixth game in Dallas.
and I refused to act like tourists on our last full day in New York and it turned out to be a great decision. Chinatown first and second on our itinerary.
anese flag. The open fishmarkets, the old lady crouching outside her store, the crammed, jampacked stores, tofu smells, the neon signs hanging from every available nook and cranny on the dirty brick walls. We didn't want to leave.
later, drinking Jin djou nai tsa (pearl milk tea - the real McCoy!), watching teenagers play handball. They all speak American, but even the dress code are the same as my students back in Taichung.
Around 10:00pm we finally made it to the elevator and as we stepped in I sighed in relief. As the doors shut, I leaned against Marco wondering exactly how many skyline photos we really needed for this to be such a quest. I mean after all, we had shots from the plane, from the ferry, from the car, from the bridge... As the steel, gray doors siliently slid open, I let out an ominous gasp. There before my eyes was yet another line! 
Sunday afternoon found us in a Pentacostal church that my friend Julia and her fiancee Bob attend. It was truly an experience and after 3 hrs with no end in sight, we decided to quietly slip out and head to the city's financial headquarters.
Bob was a great tour guide! Not only had he worked in that area for a number of years, but he knew all kinds of little side streets and small sights that we would have never discovered had we been on our own. On the way we stopped by George Washington's church where I actually saw a priest r
ap and hip-hop! It was quite a show and the church was packed to say the least.
The infamous court house from Law and Order. (Right, bottom)
Monday morning we decided that we should at least check out Lady Liberty, since after all we were in NYC. Not noticing the fine print warning to arrive early in our tour book, we arrived at Battery Park around noon. "Oh look!" I squealed, "there must be something exciting going on," as I montioned to the hundreds of people lined up. It slowly dawned on me, to my utter dismay, that the "excitement" was the line for the ferry and to my horror it sank in that if I was to see her, I too would have to stand among the thousands waiting. 4hrs, 2 hot dogs, 8 rounds of the 
theme song from Gilligan's Island, and 1EMT call later... we finally were able to board. As we jetted across the open sea, for the "eternal" 10 minute ride to the Statue, I noticed there was a haze of reds, blues, yellows, and browns at her base. Now although I know NY is a seasonal state, there was no way that there were that many trees with changing leaves. Nope, thousands more were waiting for my much sought after seat... one that I valiantly pressed on for. There was no way that I was about to give that up, so we waved good-b
ye to her as we continued on to Ellis Island.
By the time we arrived to Ellis Island, Marco was feeling seasick and tired of all the crowds and people. His couraged waned when he the saw the numbers pressing toward us, elbowing and pushing for just one small, hard, blue chair to rest their weary, touristy bottoms on. With muc
h coaxing and the promise of a beer, he agreed to get off the ferry and view yet another museum.
I won't go into detail about the island, you can read about it in Island of Hope by Martin Sandler. However, it was pretty amazing to actually walk the halls and see the remmants of the past left behind.
Side photo: Currencies to be exchanged for US dollars upon arrival.
We also visited the NBC Studios, where David Letterman, Conan O'Brian and the national news studios are situated. Big letdown - tourist trap and we would have spent our time better sitting in a cwoffee(New Yorkian) shop with a bagel people watching.
poor member countries. Very generally speaking, that is. I thus understand the vibes of irritation and frustration in Washington towards this less then efficient global organisation. As a permanent member, the US's plans and policies are more often than not veto'd by either China or Russia - despite the country's huge fiscal contribution.
