Unemplyeed in GREENLAND

You our ancient Land

64°10′N 51°44′W

To the Sicilian: Yes I DO want to be sent back to Greenland, but I’ll keep my job too thanks. I thought more of you would get the Princess Bride Reference, time to brush up on your PB kids.

Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically associated with Europe (specifically Denmark) since the 18th century . Greenland shows remnants as far back as 2500BC, the Saqqaq culture (paleo-eskimo) was on this island for thousands of years.Greenland is the largest island that is not a continent… it is also one of the least densely populated….people doesn’t know what their missing… well in the summer at least.

Greenland holds the record for the largest national park, largest island, and largest independent territory. An interesting thought, scientists think the icecap covering this area may in fact be three different islands bridged by glaciers.The Temperature here ranges from 16 degrees F to 45 degrees F, so I doubt you’ll find a surf shop on any of the shores. The extreme north (Pearyland) is not actually covered in an ice sheet as it is too dry to snow. If the Greenland ice sheet were to melt away completely, the world's sea level would rise by more than 23 ft and Greenland would most likely become an archipelago.

Most of the cities and scientific camps are in the southern tip, where there is ice free shores, If you look closely at icebergs, you will notice different colors and shades. The blue ice is 100-150,000 years old. The older the ice the darker the color. Clear dark green ice can be as old as 300,000 years - WILD!

With the icebergs, the midnight sun, the northern lights, the whales, the polar bears, the seals, fjords, hiking, snowmobiling, kayaking, dog sleighing, saying you’ve been to the arctic circle and there was no fry sauce, saying fun names like Maniitsoq and the free icicles… who wouldn’t want to go to Greenland. Just think you don’t have to go on a diet to fit in your bathing suit for this trip!

Now I’ll just let some photos tell the rest of the tale.

Do you want me to send you back to where you were, unemployed, in .......

This one may be a bit easy… there was no helping that… but I am still so so so so excited…this is one of the places that has been on my “TO VISIT” lists for a long time. The rawness of it, the uniqueness, and the beauty. It draws me. In fact be prepared to be peppered with pictures (say that 10 times fast) there is just so much beauty. I ache to go here. I have a dream to live in a little cabin, Men In Trees style, reading books, seeing all the beauty of nature, hiking, walking and just hanging with the locals for a whole summer.

I’m not crazy enough to try a winter here.Beaches? Oh yes there are beaches, but you’d have to be a few dogs short of a husky team to want to swim here. I’ve done some research and you actually CAN scuba here… but I haven’t found any actual tours that offer it. I just had an image of trying to get Steph to dive here, and can see her running tail faster than she’s ever run. I imagine it’s beautiful down in the H2O, but not sure if it would be worth the hypothermia. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t much to do here.

Boat tours to see the magnificent icebergs (have you ever seen an iceberg calf? You should). Hiking, Kayaking (again something you can do anywhere, and each one is a new experience) Whale watching, polar bear spotting and reindeer gazing.

I went for a dog-sledge ride and pretended I was in the Iditarod, on dasher on dancer… or was it a reindeer ride?

One thing on my do not miss, was to experience the midnight sun, spend a full 24 hours in all the sun’s glory. Have you ever gone kayaking on the ocean, with a calving glacier in the back ground, whales dive to the deep and then see the stunning northern lights… at midnight? Someones got to do it right?

Some people go to Hawaii to experience a Luau with dancers and good food. Here I can participate in an Inuit drum dance, kayak performance and dance in colorful costumes. The food ,while simple, is still delicious and exciting. A classic dish is a soup dish called ‘suaasat’, which is based on fish, bird or meat from seal, whale or reindeer. The soup is rich and nourishing. Just enough rice is added to make the soup smooth, as well as onions and potatoes. No spices other than salt and pepper provide the finishing touch, and the soup is served until everyone is full. Tassa mamaq! – which means “It tastes good” A favourite lunch and a popular snack is dried cod and whale accompanied by whale blubber. Other favorites include dried ‘ammassat’ (a small herring-like fish in the salmon family called capelin), dried reindeer meat and whale skin with blubber, called ‘mattak’, which is a well-loved delicacy amongst the local population. And of course crowberries and blueberries in the autumn. Hope you like whale blubber…..

The culture here has much in common with Inuit tradition, as the majority of people are descended from Inuit. People continue the Inuit tradition of ice-fishing and there are annual dog-sled races. Fishing by traditional methods has been increasingly replaced by the use of firearms and modern technology.

I was told that the colors of the houses were chosen, so that the houses looks nice in the winter as well, when the snow covers the ground.

Lots of kids believe this place is the North Pole, and in one of the harbors you can find Santa’s mailbox,

and you don’t have to go to ancient Rome to find fabulous ruins. The Vikings were here as far back as 900 AD, and there are still amazing remnants to behold.

Timore Leste - East Timor

8°34′S 125°34′E

‘Elo’ from Timor Leste

Dili captitol of Timor Leste will always be the dill pickel capital....

Timor Lests (East Timor) …became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century on May 20, 2002. East Timor is one of only two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia, the other being the Philippines. Animism is a philosophical, religious or spiritual idea that souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also in other animals, plants, rocks, natural phenomena such as thunder, geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment. A wish tree is a modern practice based on the animism practiced by early pagan peoples of Europe such as the Celts and Anglo-Saxons.

The culture of East Timor reflects numerous influences, including Portuguese, Roman Catholic, and Malaysia, on the indigenous Austronesian and Melanesian cultures of Timor. Legend has it that a giant crocodile was transformed into the island of Timor, or Crocodile Island, as it is often called.

East Timor is a lower-middle-income economy. It continues to suffer the aftereffects of a decades-long independence struggle against Indonesia, which damaged infrastructure and displaced thousands of civilians. It is placed 158th by Human Development Index (HDI) among the world's states, the lowest in Asia."Timor" derives from timur, the word for "east" in Indonesian and Malay (hence the Indonesian Timor Timur) which became Timor in Portuguese and entered English as Portuguese Timor. Lorosa'e is also the word for "east" in Tetum, literally "rising sun".

Despite the fact that the country spreads across only 15.000 km2 that has no impact on the variety of landscape one can find. The mainland, the Oekusi enclave and the islands of Ataúru and Jaku encompass a wide range of landscapes: from the mountain areas of Maubisi , Ermera and Ainaru to the savannah plains of Lautein, from the rice and coffee plantations in Bobonaru and Aileu to the rain florest of Lore, the choices are plenty.

Perhaps their biggest asset is the people: a friendly and welcoming people with many traditions and a significant cultural heritage. Being predominantly catholic, but keeping their animist traditions, the Timorese have a number of rituals and traditions that add up to the singularity of our country and complement its tourism offer, making travelling a true experience.

Pickles

The Capitol of this country reminds me of pickles…I know I have a word association issue, but I bet after this you will never forget the country nor the capitol. But far from pickles this capitol is known more for the seafood. Here in the capitol the waterfront remains a center of activity from dawn till late at night, a park separates the beach from the road, with banyan trees and benches offering an excellent place to cool down in the shade with a coconut to drink! Fishermen unload all kinds of fish, squid and lobsters on the beach, making this one of the best places to find the freshest seafood.

There have been a lot of changes in the world in the last century regarding country borders and creation, split or new countries. This is one of our newest, actually having the bragging rights of saying it was one of the first sovereign states of the 21st century. Although practically brand new, the culture and traditions of these people go back over 4,000 years. With the first inhabitants arriving from New Guinea, Australia, China and Indochina. Later it was colonized by the Portuguese. So there is much diversity among the people & culture.

Unfortunately, there is still much unrest in the country. Just a few years ago riots broke out and several other countries had to send in military assistance. It began with complaints against their own countries discrimination in the military. Several people died, and the prime minister was forced to resign.

Though not an island country specifically, it is located on and island. And even includes two smaller islands, one which was a perfect mini Alcatraz, and was used by several settlers as a prison, but now is a perfect vacation getaway, if you are looking for quiet and isolation, complete with bamboo cabins.

Smaller and lesser known than say.. Romania, there is a significantly less amount of information about this country, but that does not mean there is less to know. Upon independence this place became one of a very few countries in Asia to be predominantly Roman catholic. Although local animist traditions have a persistent and strong influence on the culture. They even have their own giant statue of Christ.

As I’ve mentioned before I find it fascinating how many countries are tailor made for beach lovers and water sports enthusiast. With all the places to dive in the world, how come everyone isn’t scuba certified? Along with your obvious diving, fishing, and swimming with the dolphins and pilot whales: hiking and trekking is also quite popular. Though as every good diver knows, you should never do both in a 24 hr period.