January 17, 2013
If this is Thursday, it must be Antigua (we are docked beside two other ships, the “Oriana” and the “Costa Luminosa”).
We slept in, then ate breakfast on Deck 9 in the Windjammer Care, filled our water bottles, grabbed our Pirates hats and headed into the island (where one native told me he liked the Steelers).
Then out through customs and ...
“No, thank you, sir, we do not want to hire a cab.”
“No, thank you, sir, we do not want to take an island tour.”
“No, thank you, sir, we do not want to go on a safe, one-hour trip.”
Everyone who has been offered fur hats on Red Square raise your hand.
Having successfully navigated the gauntlet, and using our trusty map to find Socolito and two whales named George and Gracie, we went to Diamonds International where Bonnie got her free charm bracelet and charm. She actually started that charm bracelet many cruises ago, and we’ve probably collected half of the available charms.
Next we bought some postcards and inquired as to the location of the Post Office. “Down this alley, turn right, and it’s the blue and yellow building.” It was like entering a Poychta in Russia, a time machine back 50 years. The denomination of the stamps we purchased was 75 cents (East Caribbean Dollars). We were charged 30 cents U.S. (should have been 25 cents, but oh well, what’s a nickle among friends).
Next we went into the Antigua Historical Museum, paid $3 U.S. and looked at some great historical artifacts, including pieces from the Arawaks who were the first people to settle on most of the Caribbean Islands (and as far north as Fort Lauderdale). For you who are doing history research papers on indigenous people, they came from Venezuela in dug out canoes across wide spances of water. Brave folk. Sadly, the next group in, the Carib, killed them all. But there is justice. When the Europeans arrived with small pox and typhoid fever, they killed all the Carib – but not before the Carib gave them a nasty strain of syphilis (it’s called, and I’m not making this up, “The Columbian Exchange”).
Oh, we learned at the Museum that in 2009, the Antiguans renamed their Boggy Peak as Mount Obozo, I mean Obama.
Then we went off in search of two historic churches: St. John the Divine Anglican/Episcopalian Church and Ebenezer Methodist Church.
St. John’s has a graveyard with tombstones dating from the late 1700s. Many of the graves are raised, making them mini-mausoleums.
Someone at Macedonia tell Tina I got her a seashell. Picked it up near a tombstone in St. John’s cemetery. Since we don’t do the beach, that will have to do. Insert smiley face here.
We walked several more blocks to Ebenezer Methodist. A local insurance company was having a job fair or some such on the grounds. We wandered into look around and seeing an open door and beyond several ladies cooking, I went in, introduced myself as a Methodist pastor from the United States and asked if we could look around.
A lady took us through the church, telling us that one Nathaniel Gilbert was instrumental in bringing Methodism to Antigua. He was sick and asked for something to read. His daughter brought him a book of John Wesley’s sermons. Impressed, he took his entire family and household servants to England and arranged a personal visit with Wesley. After listening to Wesley preach, in the fashion of the Philippian jailer in Acts 16, Gilbert and all of his household were baptized.
Returning to Antigua, Gilbert left his political and legal career to become a Methodist preacher. Two of his serving girls also began preaching. Within 30 years there were 1000 Methodists on the island.
Entering the pulpit reminded me of a quote from Frederick Beechner (wake up, Amy): “The preacher climbs the steps to the pulpit, turns on the lectern light, and deals out his note cards like a river boat gambler. The silence in the shabby church is deafening. Everyone knows what he has told them before. Who knows what he will tell them this time. Let him tell them the truth” (from “Telling the Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy, and Fairy Tale”).
Back on the “Vision of the Seas” I am typing this blog entry and being tormented by my new Dell Inspirion 5520. Would someone kindly google how to adjust the sensitivity of the keyboard and the touch pad so that WordPerfect will stop sizing and resizing itself, minimizing and maximizing itself, and generally being a nuisance. And no comments from the Bro about getting a Mac!
I met Mike, the cruise director, for the first time today, having worked exclusively with Jennifer, the cruise program administrator. He was very complimentary about my talks, commenting on the good crowds and the good comments he has heard. Very nice.
Well, that’s all until tomorrow and an exploration of St. Lucia.
TTFN!
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