SI MONTHLY NEWS May 2006 Travel and host reports
From SI Exco News
Host and Travel Reports
Our visit to Florida, 20 Mar to 11 Apr 06
When I planned our trip to Florida I started asking from the Florida Servas list. I was surprised that there are so many hosts and I was even more surprised that almost all the hosts we wrote to, wanted to host us.
I want to write about the experiences that made this trip through beautiful nature with a lot of must-see musea, and of course Seaworld and Kennedy Space Center, a rich and deep human experience.
When we arrived we drove to Gail. She welcomed us warmly and she helped us find some more Servas hosts so we could “fill” some still “open” nights . It was the first time we saw the results of the hurricanes of last autumn: she had already removed the trees that had fallen down in her garden, but she was still waiting for her roof to be repaired: it was still wrapped in plastic foil. We realized that the many blue roofs (we kept noticing them from that moment on) were not a kind of fantasy but bare reality for so many people that lost the roof above their head and have to wait till workers find time to do the necessary repairs.
We cancelled an already booked hotel for the next night after we would leave her and then went to Cindy and Garry on their boat in Marathon, on the Florida Keys, the long tail of islands dangling at Florida’s bottom. It was very unusual to look for a 4-digit “house number” and then for a “slip”. When I was walking among the boats I really felt great: am I dreaming or is this reality? Cindy and Garry are “snowbirds”, spending their winters in Florida, away from the cold (Wisconsin, if I remember correctly). But not in rest and peace: they had a lot of work repairing the damage caused by the hurricanes. We enjoyed swimming in the warn ocean water in a small inlet at this marina: we never had such a large pool just for the two of us! Cindy and Garry thought “those Belgians must be desperate that they swim in such cold water!”. It was there that we experienced what water spouts are: when we drove back from Key West after sunset the next evening, we could hardly see the road we were driving on, because of the heavy downpour. And next to most the road (basically a 100 miles long series of bridges connecting countless small islands) there is no emergency lane. We could not really enjoy the lightning and thunder then.
In the house of Barbara and Robert, our next hosts, we realized how strong love can be. We are impressed by the way Barbara takes care of her husband and how Robert struggles with his illness, thrifting him away from his energy. We admire the way they deal with this bad fate and how they want to be in contact with the world and keep receiving guests very well - although it must be difficult for them.
Still in admiring reflection about Barbara and Robert, we met our next host, Dotty. We ‘met’ (climbing on our hands and arms) her pet, a hermit crab, as well. Here we learned more about shells and dolphins and life in a condominium. We only stayed one night with her and moved onwards to Kay and Don. Their house breathes an exotic atmosphere: the decoration of the house and the smell of herbs from the kitchen. All good experiences of their travels in the East they told us about, and our own come back to our memory. I consider the shark teeth I got from Kay as a treasure.
So far we met only elderly people - elderly in age, not in minds and behaviour. So we were delighted to meet young Servas hosts Noeleen and Deon and their children Carine and Gavin. Here we learned about fruit trees, and about keeping snakes as pets (Carine had eight!) and a lot about South Africa, the country of their childhood. We learned as well that young people have to work hard and we appreciate much that they want to take on the extra work and be Servas hosts. In their house I could once again get back in touch with the world: I could load the batteries of my cell phone and camera and read all my mails. That gave me a good feeling.
Another surprise, after those snakes, were Mary’s, our next host’s greenhouses. My husband Michaël grew up in greenhouses and has a lot of good memories of his childhood that he could now share with her. Her partner Jim, an experienced Servas traveller himself, very usefully asked us two important questions: (a) Do you want to wash? (b) Do you want to use the computer? Here we got a confirmation that you cannot say anything in general about “the” Americans, simply because there are so many special Americans. They, too, had an unusual pet: a tall blue heron that couldn’t fly anymore and had been ‘adopted’.
A few days later we had the honour of meeting the first (?) and the wisest of Florida’s Servas hosts, Peg McIntire, our host Joe’s mother. I think someone should write her biography or she should do it herself, because she is so inspiring, vivid, witty, busy. Only her body betrays more or less her age. Joe and Sally invited her, along with and Sharon and Jay, to share the fish Joe brought back home after a day out at the sea, a trip his dentist had offerd him. We spent a fine evening, full of serious talk and laughter.
Our next hosts Howard and Susan offered us the lovely company of themselves (of course), but also of their “(rac)coon”-cat. As catlovers we enjoyed her very much. It was so good to have a cat for those two days. Their garden offered us a splendid view over the wide Indian River, with the huge assembly hall of the Kennedy Space Center in the faint distance. The weather was getting warmer those days and we realized that it was almost time to go back to Belgium, to our much fresher climate (not too fresh, we hoped). We still were to meet another family with children, Marisol and Tom, with Alicia (2 and a half) and George (9 months). Marisol introduced us to life in Mexico. We are convinced, now more than ever, that we should try and go there, too. We enjoyed seeing how they educate their small children, and of course the smile of their happy children.
We came home with lots of memories of nice, very nice people, with pictures, with recipes of shortbread, chicken and tempeh, with plenty of interesting personal stories, ideas about houses, and decoration of houses, a richer understanding of pets, ideas about how it is possible to be good hosts even if you are really very busy, and so much more.
All Servas hosts of Florida, thank you very, very much. You made our trip a BIG experience.
Josée Heuts , Belgium & Luxemburg
