#mine offered (? it was mandatory for everyone) spanish

[little-orphan-ant]

*for non americans, that’s what you attend between the ages ~11-14 btw

[duggardata]

Anna and Mary Maxwell Might Be Attending [Bible] College.  (Wow!)

Recently, an eagle–eyed Anon spotted the 2 Youngest Maxwell Girls, Anna (28) and Mary (25), in the absolute last place you'd ever expect—a college campus.  It's all on Facebook... Anna and Mary appear in a photo posted by Appalachian Bible College to its official Facebook Page, along with caption: "The first day of classes. That's something to smile about!"  (Permalink.)

Why Are We So Surprised By This?

Ordinarily, two young women attending college wouldn't be at all shocking, but the Maxwells are not ordinary.  Anna and Mary's Parents, Steve + Teri Maxwell, are openly anti–college.  Steve thinks that state–run education, including higher education, is "a godless, promiscuity–promoting, humanistic environment," and that it traps young people in debt.  He is wary even of Christian colleges, since he believes they cause children to rebel.  He’s proud of his sons' lack of higher education, and praised them for "avoid[ing] the influence and cost of college." Teri is, sadly, just as opposed to college—especially for women.  Back in 1999, she wrote an article speculating that college may undermine a woman's ability to be a good and godly wife.  Her article laments—

"As far as our daughters go, I wonder how many of us developed independent spirits during our college or working days. Has this made it more difficult for us to submit to our husbands in the meek and quiet way we would like?"

Finally...  Anna and Mary's views on this topic seemed to be aligned with their parents, until now. According to Steve + Teri, all of the Maxwell Daughters had planned to be Stay–at–Home–Daughters until marriage.  (See Also.)  (And all 3 Daughters seemed to be doing so, since none had moved out.)  What is more, in 2010, Anna described college as "silly," and said that she thought attending would expose her to unsavory influences, and possibly hold her back from her ultimate goal of "be[ing] a stay–at–home wife and mother."

So, yeah...  This is quite a surprise!  And, while neither Steve + Teri, nor Anna or Mary, has actually confirmed that they’re enrolled at Appalachian Bible College, their appearance on the Facebook Page is definitely suspicious!

Tell Me About Appalachian Bible College.

TL;DR   If you just want to know how conservative and restrictive Appalachian Bible College is, skip down to “Student Life.”

Appalachian Bible College (ABC) is a tiny (~250 Students), insular bible college, located on 150 Acres in rural Mount Hope, West Virginia.  (The Maxwell Family hails from Leavenworth, Kansas, which >800 Miles Away.)  It self–describes as a “non–denominational and fundamental” institution, primarily associated with “Baptist and Bible churches.”  Unlike many so–called “bible colleges,” ABC is nationally and regionally accredited.  (Hurray!)

A lot, lot more information...  After the jump.

Admissions—

ABC requires prospective students to submit an application; transcripts from high school or home school; ACT, SAT, or CLT test scores; and two reference letters, one from a pastor and one from another mentor, e.g., teacher or youth group leader.  A high school diploma or GED is required, unless the student is homeschooled.  In that case, a detailed homeschool transcript is needed, and standardized test scores are “especially important.”

As part of the application, prospective students must attest that they agree w/ the college’s Doctrinal Statement.

Academics—

ABC offers four degree programs—Bible Certificate (1 Year), Associate of Arts (A.A.) (2 Years), Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) (4 Years), and Master of Arts (M.A.).  In addition, it runs an online program for degree–seeking or non–degree seeking students.  (But, Anna and Mary were spotted on–campus, so they don’t seem to be in the online program!)  Anna and Mary haven’t gone to college, so they almost certainly aren’t in the Master’s program.  Let’s just look at the rest...

(Sidenote—Before we go on, just want to point out...  All ABC graduates must, in addition to completing academic requirements, show that they are members of a church and that they possess good Christian character.  If they don’t, they won’t give their diploma!) 

Bible Certificate—ABC describes the one–year program as an “opportunit[y] for you to dig into Scripture and build your life on its unchanging truths.”  The program has two tracks—Bible + General Education and Bible + Ministry.  As the names suggest, both tracks’ core curriculum is the Bible and Bible study.  Both also require three courses in ministry—Foundations of Ministry, Biblical Theology of Missions, and Personal Evangelism & Discipleship.  Where they differ is is what else they require...

For the Bible + General Education Certificate, students must also take four ‘core’ classes—English Composition, Speech, Physical Education, Music, and “Success Seminar”—plus, an elective of their choice.  (This curriculum also mirrors the first–year curriculum of ABC’s A.A. and B.A. Degree Programs, so students can easily continue their studies, should they decide to do so.)

For Bible + Ministry, ‘core’ classes are waived in favor of extra theology.  Students take Principles of Biblical Interpretation, along with classes on Systematic Theology (2 Classes), the New Testament (Survey Class + 2 Classes), and the Old Testament (Survey Class + 2 Classes).

Associate’s Degree (A.A.)—ABC also offers a 2–Year A.A. Degree in Bible + Theology.  (That’s the only major offered.)  For this degree, the curriculum is a 50/50 split between General Education and Bible + Theology courses, plus a few ministry classes and electives.  All students take the following courses—

General Education   English Composition (2 Classes), Speech, Physical Education, Music, Biblical Worldview, and Ethical Issues in Ministry

Bible + Theology   Principles of Biblical Interpretation, Survey of the Old Testament, Survey of the New Testament, Matthew to Acts, Genesis to Deuteronomy, Paul’s Letters (2 Classes), and Doctrine (2 Classes)

Ministry   Theology of Missions, Foundations of Ministry, Evangelism & Discipleship, and Homiletics I (Males) / Bible Teaching (Females)  

Additionally, students must take a history class, a science or sociology class, and an elective.

Bachelor’s Degree (B.A.)—Finally, ABC offers a 4–Year B.A. Dual Degree in Bible + Theology and in Ministry.  Each student completes General Education classes.  Beyond that, each student is also a “double major.”  Everyone’s first major is Bible + Theology and everyone’s second major is ministry–focused—but, not everyone has the exact same Ministry Major.  (More on that in a bit...)  As far as curriculum, students must complete the General Education, Bible + Theology, and Ministry courses required for the Associate’s Degree, plus the following additional core classes—

General Education   Health, Psychology, Sociology, Finance, 2 History Classes (History of Western Civilization and American Church History), and 1 Science Class (Earth Science or Biology)

Bible + Theology   Joshua to Esther, Hebrews to Revelation, Isaiah to Malachi, Job to Song of Soloman, Doctrine (2 Additional Classes), and Bible Capstone 

Ministry   World Religion and Cults, and Homiletics II (Men) / Women’s Ministry (Women)

Finally, students must also pick a Ministry Major and complete its mandatory coursework.  At ABC, there are seven ministry majors to pick from—some of which have concentrations.  Here’s the list of Ministry Majors, with additional concentrations or sub–specialties listed in parentheses—

Biblical Counseling  (Youth & Family or Women’s Ministries)

Camping Ministry 

Elementary Education

Missions  (Biblical Languages, Foreign Language / Spanish, International Studies, Nursing, or Teaching English)

Music  (Pedagogy, Performance, or Worship)

Pastoral Ministry  (Biblical Languages or Youth & Family Pastoring)

Interdisciplinary

The Pastor Ministry Major seems to be limited to male students.

Click the links to check out the coursework each Ministry Major requires.

Student Life—

So, yeah...  ABC is not a progressive place.  At all.  They’re upfront about it, though, which is nice.  Their Student Handbook is online, available for all to read.  Here are some highlights...  (All italics are mine, not in original.)

Discipline / Consequences—Students who break the rules face discipline in the form of “a verbal or written Carefrontation, a fine, a work assignment, a temporary room or dorm confinement, a social [or] ... campus restriction,” or “some other determination.”  Egregious offenses may result in the student being “suspended ... , asked to withdraw from the college, or dismissed.”

Dress Code—There’s a detailed Dress Code, with different different activities requiring different standards of dress.  Perhaps surprisingly, pants are allowed for female students for all but the fanciest standard of dress.  (For that, they’ll have to wear skirts or dresses.)  Here are a few of the rules...

“Earrings may be worn by females only,” and “all other body piercing is prohibited.”

ABC students are prohibited from getting new tattoos.  If a student has an old tattoo, they may be required to cover it at all times if the Dean of Students deems it “offensive.” 

Prohibited Activities—ABC says that, “in order to remain above reproach,” students are prohibited from the following “questionable activities”...

Consuming “alcohol as a beverage,” tobacco in any form (including e–cigarettes), or drugs for non–medicinal purposes.  (Penalty for violating this rule is dismissal.)

Serving alcohol to others, even if done in the course of a student’s off–campus employment.

Gossiping, or engaging in “other forms of impure speech.”

Listening to, viewing, or reading “unwholesome” media or literature, or accessing websites “that do not promote godliness.”  (See Prohibited Media and Prohibited Music.)

Attending “commercial movie theaters.”

Gambling.

Dancing.

Prohibited Media—Per the ABC Student Handbook, ABC students shall not consume “any media (including social media) that features vulgar or obscene language, sexual innuendo, nudity, immodest clothing, or ... a blatantly non–Christian message.”  Additionally, students may not—  

Watch movies rated PG–13, R, X, or NC–17, or shows rated TV–MA.

Play video games or use apps rated A, M, or RP.

... and, they’re strongly cautioned to avoid media that promotes “unbiblical definitions of love”; endorses “witchcraft or the occult”; mocks “law or law enforcement”; denigrates “marriage and the traditional family”; or contains “excessive violence.”  Students are urged not to consume media made by people—e.g., actors, producers, directors—“known for their stand against Christian values.”

Prohibited Music—Students are banned from listening to music “that includes God–dishonoring language, anti–biblical messages ... , a prominent resurfacing beat, pulsating and driving or dance rhythms, or sensual overtones in the music itself or in the performance.”  They’re specifically cautioned to avoid...

Rock—Because the “lyrics may be unacceptable” and “[t]he beat of the music may become the most prominent element.”

Country—Because the “lyrics may be unacceptable” and the underlying “music may be connected to a heavy rock beat.”

Folk—As “[e]xistentialism, humanism, or hedonism may be propagated through the lyrics.”

Jazz—Since syncopation may be “extensive[ly] use[d],” and “a sensual performance style may be employed.”

Contemporary Christian—Since “a sensual performance style may be employed,” “a beat may be overly prominent,” and the “lyrics may be theologically incorrect or existential in their emphasis.”

Relationships—

“The Bible restricts sexual activity to marriage between a man and a woman.  Thus, fornication, adultery, incest, sexual abuse of a minor, homosexuality, indecent exposure, sexual harassment, and other such activities are forbidden.” 

“[N]o display of affection through physical contact (including holding hands) on the part of non–married couples, on or off campus.”

Dating students are forbidden from sitting together in class or chapel.

No male–female pair, dating or not, may be alone together in anyone’s home or residence, on– or off–campus.

No male–female pair, dating or not, may socialize off–campus without a chaperone, unless they’ve been at ABC for at least 4 Semesters.

Divorced students “shall not be permitted to date other ... students.”

According to ABC’s Student Handbook, all these rules apply to all students, at all times, on– or off–campus.

All in all, it’s great if Anna and Mary are attending college, even if it’s a super–duper conservative one, like ABC clearly is.  The fact that they’ve possibly left home and are out there, living on their own...  Crazy to even think about, given Steve’s apparent iron grip on his household.  It can only be good from them to venture out on their own, even if it’s just to a slightly less stifling place.

[koreanstudentiseul]

My Language Learning Experience (2006-2019)

Hello~ as requested, here is my language journey/experience post. So fair warning this is a very long post. Way longer than I meant it to be, but I did warn this when you guys asked for it so I’m sorry in advance.

For this, I’m going chronologically, but I’ll mark it clearly if you wanna just read specific bits, I don’t blame anyone who wants to skip sections it is a lot of text. With that said, let’s begin~

1st: Spanish.

My first experience learning language was in Primary school, at aged 10 (due to a late birthday) when we were surprised by a sparkly new class that wasn’t offered in the school before. Spanish. I don’t remember much from this point being nearly 14 years ago but I remember finding the class difficult because the teacher wasn’t very approachable and seemed to play favourites. At least in the context of only helping certain pupils rather than all the pupils. I picked up a few things, like 1-10 and some animal names but that was about it.

I continued Spanish in High school as it was a mandatory subject in the first 2 years, I learned more from these classes mostly I think because they were more used to teaching the subject but I can’t say that with any certainty. I have mixed memories from this time as we were forced to endless exercises that didn’t explain anything, yes/no style corrections which don’t help anyone, and my teacher told me off for knowing the answer (I still remember this clearly, she asked what the word for fish was, I said pez. Then she asked what the plural was, I said peces and she scolded me for knowing that. To this day, I don’t know why) so that was traumatising for me and meant I didn’t speak up in class again for well over a year.

At this point I’m 4 years-ish into Spanish and I think I’m doing okay, I can do the homework and the exercises with minimal issue (not always correct, but was done in a reasonable time) and we get to picking our subjects for our exams. At which point, my teacher who was talking to everyone about their choices as most did (this was to explain the exam courses and what to expect so you know what you’re choosing, which I think was a nice thing but they stopped doing this sadly) and when it was my turn, it was “implied” that if I picked the subject I wouldn’t be allowed to take the class. I was told that I wasn’t smart enough to pass so I couldn’t take either language course and that I’d to pick another department.

This knocked any confidence I had with languages, I thought I’d been doing okay, at parents night I always had good comments so I don’t know what prompted this delightful comment. And with it being their word against mine I couldn’t prove it was said, but I knew the school would have sided with them anyway. This is also the reason I have Spanish as a want to learn rather than can speak because aside from my fish trauma, I can count to 99 and do basic insa chitchat and that’s all I retained. Oh and the words for library and sharpener, because my favourite place is a library and un sacapuntas is just something that’s always amused me for reasons unknown.

2nd: Korean

So, fun fact, I’m surprised that Korean’s here because I actually had been counting it as 3rd until I actually thought about it for this. My derpiness aside, Korean comes in at the beginning of my 5th year so would be late 2011 (Our school year starts mid-August) when my friend introduced me to K-Pop and oh boy my mp3 player has never looked the same since. It was a serious exam year, so no great progress was possible, especially with trying to get into college. I didn’t find TTMIK till much later than this but for this point in time, I found the lyrics on live performances really intriguing. I mean it’s nothing I was used to seeing on our equivalent shows, they never had the lyrics up for songs, in fact I don’t remember them telling you the artist half the time was towards the end of their broadcasting time. That tangent aside, the words just looked really beautiful and by September that year I was enamoured by the sound of the language, so I started looking up things about Korean in between the onslaught of homework and assessments. Also according to old social media I was subconsciously singing it from the December onwards, so good to know that that was always a thing I did. It took me until March to be able to read enough to write and even then it crude as anything. There’s very little trace of anything from that time but I struggle to read what there is.

Sadly this is where things end here for now, exams and getting into college and having space to breathe after years of being up till 2am trying to get all my work done and not having weekends cause I had to study too kind of pushed it to the back burner. What can I say, it was the first actually free summer I’d had in 5 years and I wanted it to be a detox before college started just in case it was the same set up of no sleep. And then I bumped into the aforementioned Spanish teacher again over the summer who made a comment to the effect of “Bet you’re glad you didn’t take Spanish, otherwise you’d have a nasty fail on your results.” Which for one annoyed me because it implied I had any say in the matter, but also removed any confidence I had regained since our last encounter.

3rd: Japanese

Now this is going to be really underwhelming, you’ve been warned. So I picked up Japanese in exam season 2012 (’cause I clearly didn’t have enough going on) and if I recall correctly used Japanesepod101 for it. I just followed their podcasts so I never learned to read just speaking/listening really. I suppose the 3 alphabets scared me off some, still kinda does scare me but I have a plan of action now so it’s a long term goal rather than wishful/fearful thinking. Still not sure what prompted this though, maybe an anime revival, or just finally caving since I’d wanted to for years.

Anyway, I got through the most basic level on JP101, and a little into the next one when as previous stated getting into college/return of the Spanish teacher caused a little bit of a crisis and I fell away from languages. I also have retained basically no Japanese, and this bothers me so I look forward to getting back to where I was.

2nd (again): Korean

Oh hi, Korean’s back again. Okay this time it’s gonna be a little longer, this goes up until the day I’m posting this. So I picked Korean back up in 2013. At this point I found TTMIK (through yahoo answers would you believe, they hadn’t come up in my search for learning Korean back then). I did level 1 and then I think only got to lesson 4 of level 2 before college hit like a tonne of bricks. And then we have another gap.

We come back in yet again in 2017. I never stopped listening to K-pop, sorta dipped in and out of dramas in that time very lazily, but didn’t really learn anything between 2013-2017. I had to reteach myself to read because it was really hazy and only half remembered, no surprise though it had been more than 5 years since I’d really touched on it at that point.

So once I could comfortably read again, I was confident to go ahead and redo level 1. I did all 25 lessons in 2 weeks. Level 2 however, that caused more trouble. Admittedly I was really ill at this point, I actually had to stop working because of it so level 2 was a lot slower than I wanted or even expected. I knew it was basically new ground in level 2 but even so it was difficult to see the time between lessons, and how much work it was to understand lessons progressively increasing.

I had hoped to get it done in 6 weeks, but it took about a year. Even now some things I still struggle with and get muddled, though it’s getting better with time which is reassuring. At this point my motivation was crippled. I wasn’t progressing, I was barely looking at Korean and I honestly thought about quitting. It also wasn’t helping that the studygram that had once been an ally turned foe showing me all the work everyone else was doing while I was doing nothing at all.

I have now since learned that it doesn’t have to be something demotivating. If someone wants to study 13 hours a day, fantastic! But that’s not for me. Some days are easier than others, I am still in recovery and that’s okay. Some days I can do 4 hours no trouble, others 5 minutes seems impossible. But I should have days off, I shouldn’t make myself ill worrying about studying. I should have time for games, and painting, and wandering round the woods with my camera, and general self care things.

In saying this, I’m guilty of saying this then ignoring it. Especially since I started using italki, where I’d have to learn 100 words, write a presentation and answer 30 questions in a week. I should push myself to try and do the homework, but at the same time, I have other things to do too and I shouldn’t torture myself with cramming homework and nothing else cause it takes so long to try and do the stuff that’s physically handed in let alone anything else.

Don’t get me wrong I love my tutor, she’s the only person who has me laughing at my mistakes, has me trying to use the language because I was terrified of doing that before. Well, I still somewhat am, but it’s getting better. Sometimes the workload is a little crazy, funny how I wanted homework now I just want to throw it all away and just do what I feel I need with the language between lessons. Not sure if it’s a phase or the initial excitement’s wore off and it’s not like wading quicksand.

So, before I start rambling I’m going to have a tl;dr summery here in regards to Korean this year.

The good from this year is hands down the studygram/studyblr community. Before I was annoying people talking about or posting about studying Korean, and these communities offered me a safe welcoming place to be where I could discuss what I was learning, and even get help when needed. I will always be eternally grateful to those who answer my questions in relation to anything, be it being unable to read handwriting, or grammar, or vocab confusion or something as simple as recommendations.

Slightly less good, no fault of Korean admittedly, probably is the difficulty in understanding and retaining information. Most of it is down to being ill. The rest, just generally me being confused because the way our schools teach English, so I don’t really know the different word classes and the rules for each. I can’t look at a word and be like, that’s an adverb, or even if I’m told ‘oh this is and adjective’ I really don’t know what to do with that information. I can do noun, and verb that’s about it. Not for lack of trying though, I have since tried to teach myself, and I have a cheat sheet but I can’t use that in a conversation so hardly a great use. It also means forming sentences is quite tricky, since if one type of word must follow another to be grammatically correct, or even make sense I have no clue about it.

Even further from good, and not something I like to dwell on too long, I feel like I’m cheating with Korean 95% of the time. With Spanish, I never had to double check anything, I could form sentences, and say what I wanted with what I knew and it was fine, but with Korean, it’s like the exactly opposite. I don’t trust myself to write anything without quadruple checking it. I wish I could just write sentences and just look up words/grammar as I need them but no every word of every sentence and even then it’s still flooded with mistakes which doesn’t help me try and wean bad habits.

So yeah I think that about wraps up Korean, but it doesn’t sound particularly good in this explanation. Hopefully next year it’s better.

4th: Turkish

Langjam number 1 (for me), and I had Turkish. Delightful experience, granted I was very ill. I had the flu that weekend because of course it had to hit that weekend, I’m not allowed to have plans apparently. But it was fun, I learned how much of a time sink grammatical concepts are. I feel like all I did was learn grammar that weekend, and I don’t remember any of it, but I still have the sentence I made at the end of the weekend:

“Merhaba, adım Rosie. Hastayım bu yüzden fazla çalışmadım. Ama, Türkçe çalışmaktan mutluyum.”

Not going to lie, all I remember clearly is Merhaba, but that’s better than nothing. I would love to go back and do it properly, or at least without the flu. One of my best friends, a very sweet bean is from Turkey and I’d love to be able to try and speak to them in Turkish a little since they speak English every day for me and yeah I’d love to be able to chat to them a little (though I still can’t type it on my laptop properly so that should perhaps be task one on returning to it).

I don’t know when I’ll go back to Turkish, but I kept all my resources and my notebook so it should be good when I do. Perhaps when I get to an intermediate level in Korean Turkish can resurface, though don’t hold me to that I may just wanna do it randomly. 

That’s it for now! Bet you’re glad you don’t have to read anymore of my boring language past ;) If I missed anything, or didn’t entirely answer the question you asked, just let me know and I’ll try and get back to you as soon as possible.  Thank you for reading, have some cookies and happy learning~ ♡

[ecofinisher]

¡Vamos a España! - Chap 29

Chapter 29

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29442912/chapters/75704606

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13819897/29/Vamos-a-Espa%C3%B1a

https://www.wattpad.com/1055603893-%C2%A1vamos-a-espa%C3%B1a-chapter-29

After dinner, Gerda was the only friend, that stood back late to keep Rollan and the troll cubs company. Rollan and Gerda sat together on the bed watching the cubs play along with Luta a card game, Rollan had taught them a while ago during the trip to Europe.

„Last hour we spent the time playing tag with each other during the parkour. One of us had to act as a criminal fleeing and the second person had to pursue the person during the obstacles. Lieutenant Roberto had randomly mixed up people so it would be each time different. Everyone would have a different way of leading us to a wrong situation or simply trick us to fail,“ Rollan told the girlfriend.

„That sounds like a great way to practice for the outside. You had mentioned the other day you had similar situations when you ran behind a criminal out in the city,“

„It‘s actually quite helpful. You get used to it and begin to capture a faster way to overcome the obstacle,“ Rollan commented. „Next month we are going with Roberto to a ranch to see ponies. The ones who are interested can adopt one and it will stay in another place so we can train with it together for the future when we become actual guards or better said we got the full formation,“

„And you‘re going to take this opportunity or is it mandatory?“

„It‘s more mandatory if you‘re going to work for the king as far I remember. I‘m most likely interested in staying here on the town or any other one for that matter to work and finish the education,“

„And you‘re still planning to come back to us after all this?“ Questioned Gerda making the boyfriend nod.

„It will take a little long, but I‘m trying to make sure my mom gets out of the debts and I can go back to you when I‘ve got enough money to pay for the way back,“

„And is your mother going to stay here alone?“ Questioned Gerda making Rollan shrug his shoulders.

„Yes…...oh…..okay this is now bad. I…..I haven‘t really thought about that. I….just wanted to help her pay the debts, so she wouldn‘t lose her house. I got used to the life out from here, I haven‘t actually thought about how lonely my mother is now since I left,“ Rollan confessed. „Before I actually thought about it, but I didn‘t realize it was actually bad,“

„I think something that is good about this, is that your mother knows you‘re independent now and you have people there looking for you,“ Gerda stated placing her hand on her boyfriend‘s leg,“

„I have to think about a way on how I will be more often around mama, while I‘m also back with you and the rest…..you know….our plans of the future are also in this game and I don‘t want to have a hard choice between my two most important persons,“ Rollan admitted placing his hand over Gerda‘s hand making her smile angelic at his confession.

„You know I have an idea, that could fix this problem, it‘s just a matter of habituation, mostly for your mother. What do you think she would say if she would leave Spain with you and live somewhere near us?“ Suggested Gerda. „You could arrange a place for the two of you and we all would be able to see each other more often than usual,“

„For that, I would as well need to find a job there too and…...before we would be really bothering with us overnighting somewhere until we find a place to get a job….mostly me of course,“

„Yes I assume you have to…..but you know Alfida works for the king and he knows you well or he knows, that I know you well. When he sees you made the education here you could most likely get there a job or at least be one of the guards on the outside of the kingdom,“

„I could give it a try,“ Rollan replied, then leaned her head on his shoulder moving her hands up to Rollan‘s arm to embrace it, getting Rollan to feel enamored at her deed. „You know I don‘t think I have asked you anything, „

„What exactly?“

„Like how your day was,“ Rollan explained. „I think I only talked about what was up today,“

„We didn‘t do a lot today. After we took your friend the book away Kai and I walked along the town together and after midday, we returned to the ship, and Orm and I played domino the entire evening while Kai and Alfida went to the library or somewhere else….They have borrowed from the library a book Orm had thrown off-board mistaking it for one of those books, which were some sort of satires I think. I don‘t remember, but he somehow mistook it for something else,“

„Must have been an odd book or well to their sight,“

„It had two people in a love square with themselves. It‘s actually quite interesting,“

„I think I‘ve seen that book once. I think in some moments the characters are in the distant future,“

„I think that was one chapter about that,“

„Then I think I have read it,“

„Then don‘t spoil the ending for me,“

„The actual main villain is……,“

„Shush! No!“ Gerda ordered placing her finger in front of his lips. Rollan chuckled, making Gerda shake her head at his silliness.

„Don‘t worry, my lips are sealed,“ Rollan commented taking Gerda‘s hand down, then leaned his face closer to her for a kiss, and both got interrupted as someone knocked on the door and both saw Rollan‘s mother stand there with Alfida and Kai.

„Did we good in coming earlier or bad?“ Alfida asked making Gerda chuckle.

„I think I wouldn‘t like the latter one,“ Kai commented making his girlfriend shake her head amused at the raven-haired boy‘s comment.

„We were going to kiss. Nothing life-changing,“ Rollan commented watching Gerda sat normally. „I guess I won‘t need to accompany you home,“

„Another night, I promise,“ Gerda commented pecking Rollan on his cheek. „We are still all going to the beach tomorrow all together,“

„Yeah,“ Rollan noticed, then watched Ivan and Igor entangled in a ball together pushing down the bag of Rollan down, making Rollan recall the destroyed image he hadn‘t shown yet. „Oh I forgot to show you the portrait,“ Rollan warned getting up from the bed to take out the broken portrait to show it to Gerda.

„I will get you a new one someday, don‘t worry,“ Gerda said shoving the image back to her boyfriend. „But as long as I‘m here and you‘ve got the letters we send to each other during the rest of your formation, you will be able to see I‘m fine. Otherwise, I‘m right there,“ Gerda pointed at Rollan‘s heart making him nod.

„Gracias, amor,“ Rollan responded and embraced his girlfriend. „Get home safely“

„See you tomorrow, cariño,“ Gerda said pecking the boyfriend on the cheek, then she followed her friends out of the room and Leticia accompanied them down to the entrance, leaving Rollan back, which sat down on his bed and looked at Igor chewing on Ivan‘s ear making him furrow his eyebrows curious.

„Boys, what about I read you all a book again?“ Rollan offered watching the two boys get up from the ground to jump at Rollan‘s bed making him smile glad at them obeying him and Rollan looked at his bookshelf to look for a book, therefore Leonid, which had been sitting alone with Luta went to observe Rollan choose between his books.

On the outside, the trio walked together on the road making their way back to the ship.

„How was dinner?“ Alfida asked the girl. „Pretty good, right?"

„That was it,“ Gerda responded.

„I assume it tasted better than mines, right?“ Kai asked making the girls laugh.

„Come on Kai, their fishes were grilled. Preparing raw and cooked fish isn‘t the same,“ Gerda cheered her brother up.

„I know I just was joking,“ Kai commented. „But I was afraid on that day, that you might have gotten terribly sick, than you were,“

„Nothing happened, that‘s what‘s more important,“ Alfida added, then heard someone curse in Spanish and chuckled.

„Why are you laughing?“ Kai asked.

„I just heard someone say something bad in Spanish,“ Alfida commented looking down at the port to see two teenage Spaniards around Rollan‘s age on a small boat getting up from the boat, then the brunette teen jumped at the bridge beside the ship and held out his hand to help the friend up.

„I think I‘ve seen them somewhere,“ Gerda mentioned watching the raven-haired one in the boat pick up a ladder to hand it out to the friend. Gerda stopped watching the brunette get the ladder and point at the buildings across the street.

„You remember the house? It‘s the only one with a window near the roof,“ Told the raven-haired boy earning a nod from the friend. Gerda frowned watching the two walk the bridge along to get up on the sidewalk and go in the opposite direction.

„Kai, Rollan kept the book we stole back from the academy, right?“ Questioned the blonde earning a nod from the sibling.

„Yeah, I think he stored it into his bookshelf in the room,“ Kai responded. „Why?“

„Just asking,“ Gerda answered observing the teens follow their path and stop at a junction, then the raven-haired pointed at a building. Kai observed the two, then noticed his sister having her eyes glued on the teens and placed his hand on her shoulder.

„They must need the ladder for something, let‘s head home, Gerda,“ Kai asked seeing the boys move on and Gerda shook her head.

„I think those two are up to something,“ Gerda said making Alfida shrug and look at her boyfriend.

„You know, what happens in Spain is none of your business Gerda. If they break into someone‘s house it‘s none of our issues. After all…..there are better houses around here to assault, than Rollan‘s,“

„I‘m certain they were talking about his house, even if it isn‘t I‘m going to check it out,“ Gerda said turning into her dragon-heroine form and flew up at one house‘s roof and ran over them, making Kai sigh.

„Ugh she‘s going to cause trouble,“ Kai commented, then Alfida ran along the sidewalk to the road junction and stopped to observe them stop and have Rollan‘s house in sight.

„Why exactly his house?“ Alfida whispered to herself, then heard steps from above the roof and she looked up wondering, where Gerda was.

The two boys stood under the window of Rollan‘s bedroom, then Enrico placed the ladder on the house and looked up at how far the ladder reached and frowned as up to his window the ladder wasn‘t able to reach.

„Looks like we have bad luck today,“ Ernesto commented, then as he was about to leave a little anxious with their breaking-in plan Enrico grabbed the friend on the shoulder and pointed at the ladder.

„I have another idea. You climb the ladder up to the top, afterward I climb behind you and I get on your back and try to climb up into his room,“ Enrico explained. „Best option I can offer you now unless you prefer to break into his room, which you denied before,“

„Okay, I‘m just afraid we might fall and get hurt,“ Ernesto said watching his friend shake his head.

„Don‘t worry, we will be careful. We‘re not supposed to attract people to us, right?“ Enrico asked earning a nod from the friend, which climbed the ladder up to reach the top afterward Ernesto looked down at Enrico, which got on the ladder and followed it up. Afterward, Enrico climbed on the shoulders of his friend and Ernesto slowly got the last fewer stairs up to be able to raise Enrico up to the window, then he pulled himself up carefully up on the lodge and lied there on the side and glimpsed down at his friend, which gave him a thumb up.

„If you hear or see someone, misplace the ladder and whistle. I will hide under his bed and when you think it‘s safe make something like a bird noise,“ Enrico whispered making Ernesto nod and get down the ladder carefully as Enrico got into the room and spotted Rollan sleeping in his bed. Enrico smirked and sneaked carefully at the bookshelf, then began to look for the stolen book.

„Where is that book?“ Enrico asked himself, then he took a look at the bed and spotted in the dark in front of Rollan‘s legs three, unrecognizable creatures and he squinted his eyes trying to recognize what they were. Enrico looked back at the bookshelf, then slid a few books out slowly to check their names, and while he continued the youngest troll raised up his head to look up at Rollan, which was sleeping and he looked across the room to see Enrico touching the books and he got down of the bed to watch the boy continue to look through them. Leonid looked up at his older brother and nudged him on his arm, trying to wake him up, Afterward, he pushed him harder, shrieking him and Leonid mirrored his reaction falling on his butt making noise, which called Enrico‘s attention. He stared at the cub, which sat on the ground and got afraid by looking at the burglar, then Enrico approached the troll cub and grabbed him under his arms.

„You‘re not a dog,“ Enrico mentioned, then he noticed Ivan sitting on the bed glaring at him with his arms crossed. „Oh there‘s three of you I see?“

Ivan growled at Enrico, which smirked and packed the cub by his ears, causing him to yell, shrieking Enrico who pulled the cub tight onto his chest and Leonid tried to bite the burglar and Enrico watched from behind Rollan‘s head a white weasel stare at him in shock, then she bit Rollan on his ear to wake him up, setting Enrico in fear, which dropped the cubs and grabbed pushed Rollan‘s head against the pillow trying to put him down.

Ernesto whistled as he heard screaming from the inside of the house.

„ Enrico! Que pasa!?!?“ Ernesto asked fearful about, what he heard and he heard behind him a roofing tile fall from the house behind him and he gazed back, then saw on the ground a human-like shadow with wings pass fast above him into the house of Rollan making Ernesto swallow hard.

In the bedroom the cubs tried to pull Enrico away from Rollan, the pet weasel Luta jumped against Enrico and got pushed away, then took the opportunity to press his free hand against the hand he had on the side to try to help himself out.

„Bad idea to sleep on your belly,“ Enrico commented, then he noticed behind him the moonlight get slightly blocked and he looked behind himself, then he got packed by his back and got thrown on the ground. „Woah!“ Shouted Enrico, then he looked back at the bed and shut his eyes wide in shock as he spotted a dragon-themed superhero, which was snarling at him.

Rollan had sat up in shock, then the troll cubs got reunited with the dragon-themed superheroine, which embraced the triplets for comfort.

„What the heck are you?“ Enrico asked, then Gerda moved the cubs aside and jumped off the bed to grab the bad guy, which shrieked and ran towards the window, then tripped over the shoes of Rollan flying against the wall and Gerda pressed him against the wall, growling and glaring angrily at the boy.

„Are you kidding me? What are you doing in my room?!?“ Rollan asked annoyed at his enemy‘s presence and Gerda looked at her boyfriend to check his health state, then Enrico used the distraction to push her away shrieking Rollan.

„Hey!“ Rollan shouted watching Enrico get up on the lodge, then Enrico noticed on the drawer the book he was looking for and Gerda flew against him, then Enrico jumped away from the window and Gerda bounced with her legs on the edge of the window and flew against Enrico, which had already grabbed the book and now was under the arms of the superheroine. Enrico punched Gerda with the book and got up, then she used her tail to cause him to trip and he landed with his stomach on the lodge losing the book to the outside of the house. Gerda pulled Enrico with her tail away from the window, then grabbed him on his shirt continuing to growl at him.

„Enrico! Are you alright!“ Shouted Ernesto from the outside catching Rollan‘s attention, then he looked down at Enrico which was feeling tensed about the mysterious creature being over him.

„Corre!,“ Shouted Enrico making Gerda flinch her teeth and raise her hand up putting out her claws shrieking Enrico and Rollan at the same time and she scratched beside Enrico the wooden floor, causing Rollan to sigh in relief while Enrico had his eyes closed shivering in fear from the dragon-themed creature. Enrico opened his eyes, then noticed Gerda had her hand clawed on the ground, then she removed it from there and watched Enrico slowly get calmer from the situation, afterward she packed him again and flew out of the bedroom to drop the boy on the road. Enrico looked back at her, then she raised her hand again and moved it forward to pretend to scratch him and watched him ran away and disappear in the corner of the next house. From the other side Alfida and Kai looked out to see Gerda, then Gerda gave the two a thumb up and flew up into the bedroom of her boyfriend again to spot him together with the cubs, which were in his arms.

„Are you all okay?“ Gerda asked approaching her boyfriend and the triplets. The cubs came into Gerda‘s arms again, then she hugged them tight making them happy. „Everything is fine, I‘m here for you,“

„How did you get so fast here to save us?“ Rollan asked getting closer to Gerda, followed by Luta, which jumped up on his shoulder to fly into Gerda‘s arms to cuddle.

„Alfida and I heard them at the docks talk about climbing into a house with a window near the roof and the closest house here was yours and I followed them to make sure you all were safe,“ Gerda explained making Rollan nod.

„Wow if you didn‘t notice that before I would have gotten suffocated here,“ Rollan pointed out making Gerda nod and pat his back.

„I think the cubs or Luta could have helped you at least out of the bed,“ Gerda commented earning a nod from Rollan, which looked down at Luta and Rollan patted the weasel on the head.

„You know….it kind of was risky to break into my house like that as a dragon,“ Rollan commented. „People could find out who you are, people like Enrico,“

„I know, I made sure no one saw me,“ Gerda stated earning a nod from Rollan, then Gerda let the cubs move to the end of Rollan‘s bed, then she patted them on their heads making Rollan smile and observed them slowly trying to close their eyes. Rollan got up to look around his room if something was missing, then he remembered about the book his girlfriend had obtained on the same day and ran to the commode to notice it had disappeared.

„I think the reason Enrico got here was because of the book,“ Rollan commented. „It‘s gone,“

„I have noticed it. I‘m sorry I have let him go,“ Gerda apologized, then Rollan placed his hand on her shoulder.

„It‘s okay, at least we‘re fine. We can get it another time. Tomorrow I will think about it,“

„No, no, no. Tomorrow we‘re all going to have fun. You promised it to me, remember?“ Gerda asked tipping with her finger on Rollan‘s lips. "After all that we see about that,"

„Si,“ Responded Rollan, then he lied down on his bed and looked at Gerda, which was about to leave, then she gazed back at her boyfriend which waved at the girl, then she returned to give him a short hug. Gerda got up and flew out of the bedroom leaving Rollan back with a smile, then he sighed amorously and lied down on his back again, closing his eyes so he could soon fall asleep again.

[mikenmilo]

Sailing into Cuba

Havana. Once a beautiful fully thriving city, now a mere shadow of its former self. My god, what this place must have looked like in its glory days… The crumbling buildings and empty shops tell the tale of the poverty of this country. While I’m not fully familiar with the politics and history, I do know that this is a VERY different life from any other country I’ve explored to date. Mostly due to the restrictions the people face in daily life.

Sailing in at dawn, a Spanish speaking person returned my hail on CH 77, but don’t worry too much with the mandatory call in… I didn’t bother attempting to respond as I don’t speak the language.

The entrance wasn’t as bad as you’ll be led to believe, just don’t expect an easy ride in with a north wind of 15 knots, or a strong wind over 25 knots east or west. No cross current was detected, even though it’s mentioned in the literature.

Check-in for a Canadian was simple. Once you pull a hard left, tie up, you await the many people going about their jobs to clear your boat. Paperwork was a breeze. A fake inspection of my boat, with a fake inspection of my medications (I could supply a village for a year with my supply, the inspectors had no clue what was what, they quickly cleared me). Drug dog with messy paws. Questions of meat or vegetables. How long I was staying, ect.

A Passport and registration was all I needed officially.

One thing that was a welcoming surprise, was that they were all young tiny Cuban women in tiny skirts inspecting my boat, and, well, they were quite taken by the fact I sailed solo from Canada. Haha, the beginning of my superstardom, good thing they didn’t see my folding bike that day… more on that later.

I was given my dock number, and the Dock master met me with a crew of people to help me dock, and finalize the inspection. Luckily, he spoke English, and was surprised in my handling of the boat, perfect execution, and not needing them to grab lines or anything as I stepped off casually with both lines and tied off, as they ran to “assist”.

Be on guard for them trying to add extra footage to your boat to get extra money out of you. I also hear they add an extra 10% to your bill upon departing the country.

Once settled, you’re going to want to explore the area. Your Canadian bank card works flawlessly in the Aquarious Hotel ATM, a quick walk away, don’t bother exchanging money as the tax is high. If the bill is ripped a little, add more tax. Want to get smaller local bills, add even MORE tax. Everyone is out to get you, sadly, the results I believe of a society with dual currencies, one being for tourists. Also, you can get wifi cards for 1.5 CuC in Aquarius, the marina pool bar or Chinese restaurant.

Transportation into Havana. The only cheap way, is to do what the locals do, and stand on the road outside the marina and flag down a car. Called a machina (Mackeena), this is a public taxi that is an old car, picks up people along the way for 10 peso to a hub, where you get another machina across the street for 20 peso, and get a ride into town in the jammed full vehicle. The marina tries to dissuade this, saying its only for Cuban people. I believe they get a nice cut from the taxis sitting in the parking lots.

Pay 25-30 CUC for a taxi from the Marina- the easiest but most expensive option. If you can make a connection with a taxi driver (any old car) in Havana, you can negotiate 10-15 CUC each way from there on out, and they’ll do anything for you once you’re “in”. I hear there’s a bus that costs 11 CUC apparently, no idea about this option. I met one couple that took a yellow taxi, and unknowingly paid $75! Don’t take a yellow taxi.

First day in Havana, and in my 5 years of traveling, I finally got to experience my favorite travel moment, something I’ve been waiting to experience. I met the elusive “Can-American”.

That’s what I’m calling a US citizen dressed like a Canadian with serious patriotism issues. (Canadian’s aren’t really patriotic like Americans however)

Pretending to be Canadian by wearing our flag all over their bags and clothing.

I spoke with the couple, from Arizona, they were kind enough, if not a little taken aback by my outward friendliness with them in the streets. After they told me of their disguise and the reasoning behind it, I couldn’t help but to congratulate them on their “dual citizenship”. They were afraid of the Cubans, thinking that they didn’t want them there…

They were a little confused though, as Cubans fully welcome and embrace US Citizens! It’s the US government that doesn’t want their peoples supporting the country with tourist dollars or trade… Everyone I have encountered has mentioned how they like US peoples, so, don’t worry about anything here, other than the cab drivers taking your money, you’re very, very welcome here.

Another experience, one speaking out to the desperation thriving in this world, was when I was having breakfast at a hidden away spot just this morning.

I spoke with a couple of ladies, Europeans from Sweden, an older woman and her daughter. They seemed friendly enough, but I noticed a strange energy within them, nothing devious, but rather, a bit desperation with a bit of a pointed direction in their dialogue. Eventually, while eating outside together, I discovered they were determined to catch a boat to the Bahamas, but their ultimate destination was to sneak into the US from there.

I was offered $1,000 cash, and well, anything else I wanted from the women to smuggle them out. Sex was implied. Me being me, I couldn’t help but think of how it’d make one heck of a story, not taking advantage of the women, but rather transporting the couple and smuggling them into the US illegally… Apparently the people and the culture of Eastern Europe is killing their spirits, no one helps another or cares of those in need, I was told. In the US, they’d have work in the hotel business and be happy, eventually get a dog and a car. The good life…

This was my fourth time in this exact position, being propositioned to marry, or smuggle people out of their countries for sex or cash, so this wasn’t a shock, but rather the three of us talking openly about it all, as people in this world.

I thought about it… Really didn’t feel right though, and they had to choke back tears as I said I wouldn’t do it… I wished them luck and gave them hugs, as I’m going in the opposite direction, to Mexico this week. Later on that day, we had met again, and talked some more. They had found a potential boat possibly willing to take them, and we walked together to the meeting spot. Maybe they’ll make it, maybe they’ll have to keep trying, but it’s pretty easy to enter the US illegally from I’ve learned in our talks. Better build some more walls Trump…

They were extremely opposed to a group picture, so, here’s a cute dog instead, Luna.

On the topic of smuggling people out and into the US, Cubans are forbidden to step foot on a boat. Ever. I’ve also noticed they have a great fear of the water, making me out like a rock-star having sailed solo from Canada into their country.

Want to really be a Rock-star in Cuba? Other than have lots of money, bring a folding bicycle and ride it around Havana. I’ve seen the whole city, and everywhere I went people loved my bike, but they absolutely lost it when they saw me fold it up and carry it away. Seriously, I could have been Bono, well, something like that.

One of the reasons I went to Havana, was for some boxing training in a gym that had world champion boxers for $10 a coaching session. Fantastic people, so welcoming and inclusive, I never felt uncomfortable, even around the champ. The trainer though, wasn’t letting me off easy, as footwork was drilled into me day after day. I really appreciate this style of training, much different from the tourist Muay Thai camps in Thailand, you don’t get taught anything until you’ve mastered the previous steps… Tough love!

However, I’m leaving soon. With my boat having no choice but to be in a marina, I can’t justify the money I’m spending every day with my ever dwindling budget… I bought a good anchor for a reason, but that’s not an easy option here in Cuba, especially if you want to go to land.

So, next week, Isla Mujeres, Mexico, where I’ll check in and anchor out in the bay until my friends, and girlfriend arrive in Cancun in 2 weeks’ time.

Then, I’m feeling a conclusion to this lil journey of mine, with thoughts of docking the boat on Lake Ontario soon, possibly selling, to move on to the next adventure.

Sailing to Cuba Sailing into Cuba Havana. Once a beautiful fully thriving city, now a mere shadow of its former self.