pennyblack

2009.03.22 *colorado koi

2009-03-22T05:40:00.001+09:00

2009.03.21 *Ricky

2009-03-22T05:37:00.000+09:00

2009.03.09 *gondola

2009-03-09T05:34:00.000+09:00

2009.03.08 *dessert

2009-03-08T05:33:00.000+09:00

2009.03.07 *march seventh

2009-03-07T05:29:00.000+09:00

2009.03.01 *clouds

2009-03-01T05:27:00.000+09:00

2009.02.22 *rice krispies

2009-02-22T05:19:00.000+09:00

2009.02.18 *bar

2009-02-18T05:06:00.000+09:00

2009.02.08 *dip

2009-02-08T05:00:00.000+09:00

2009.02.06 *bicycle

2009-02-06T04:59:00.000+09:00

2009.02.01 *super bowl

2009-02-01T04:57:00.000+09:00

2009.01.31 *games

2009-01-31T04:53:00.000+09:00

2009.01.26 *grandparent's wild deer

2009-01-26T03:00:00.000+09:00

2009.01.14 *hair

2009-01-14T01:22:00.001+09:00

2009.01.11 *ice skating

2009-01-11T01:21:00.001+09:00

2009.01.08 *watch

2009-01-08T05:07:00.000+09:00

2009.01.06 *jeans

2009-01-06T05:05:00.000+09:00

2009.01.04 *sunday studio

2009-01-04T04:59:00.000+09:00

2009.01.01 *happy new year!!

2009-01-01T12:54:00.000+09:00

around the world, day #34

2008-01-30T00:39:00.000+09:00

day #34 Athens, Greece port #8

around the world, days #32 - #33

2008-01-03T04:34:00.000+09:00

day #33 Mikonos, Greece port #7

day #32 on-board, 3rd floor (teacher’s cabins)

around the world, day #31

2008-01-02T07:39:00.000+09:00

day #31 Cairo, Egypt

around the world, day #30 con’t

2008-01-01T04:00:00.000+09:00

day #30 con’t Port Said, Egypt port #6

a couple of us were just wondering around and went by this mosque right at prayer time and got invited in. some women got us all covered up properly and we did the whole prayer with them.

later we walked by an outdoor café and decided to have a tea. while being shown to the toilet by the manager we could hear loud music and I asked if there was a club up stairs. no, it’s a wedding. would you like to go up? of course we would. we got cake and the special wedding punch. and we danced with the bride.

the band!

a table was brought out and a bunch of men gathered around to sign some papers.

time to dance.

around the world, day #30

2007-12-08T16:02:00.000+09:00

day #30 Suez Canal

around the world, days #28 con’t - #29

2007-12-07T16:46:00.000+09:00

day #29 on-board, pool deck

Tanabata Festival.

day #28 con’t Aqaba, Jordan

smoking shisha.

how it's really done.

around the world, day #28

2007-12-05T19:21:00.000+09:00

day #28 Aqaba, Jordan

challenge program. in four of the port we stopped in we organized challenge programs for the English/Spanish students on-board. in Jordan we went to a college and did a cultural exchange with the English students there. they did live music and dancing and preformed a mock marriage proposal and wedding. and our students taught origami, dressed people in kimono, and played chop-stick games. we had two portrait artists on the boat. they drew hundreds of faces throughout the voyage.

around the world, day #27 con't

2007-11-17T15:49:00.000+09:00

day #27 con't Wadi Rum, Jordan

our wonderful driver. he knows Wadi Rum like the back of his hand. the perfect route and timing, exactly where he could go super fast and then skid on the sand and which way is the easiest for us to climb up on the rocks. and every time we would stop he would open all the doors and blare local music super loud.

to finish off the day our driver went to the best sunset watching place and we hung out there for a while. he had bought fruit on the way and cut that up for us. he built a fire and made us tea. and we watched the stars come out. his name is Abdullah.

around the world, days #26 - #27

2007-11-16T15:18:00.000+09:00

day #26 on-board, Indian Ocean

day #27 Petra, Jordan port #5

recently in Japan

2007-11-15T19:28:00.000+09:00

more Aoi.

around the world, days #24 - #25

2007-11-08T11:37:00.000+09:00

day #25 on-board, pool deck

Bulgarian night. lots of Bulgarian crew.

day #24 on-board, pool deck

sports day. this is an event that kids do in Japan every year mainly in elementary school and sometimes up through high school. it’s taken very seriously with students starting to prepare about two months before the event. many people took it just as seriously when we held the event on the boat. there were four teams. here is my team- red doing tug-of-war.

and the blue team doing performance event.

and the award ceremony. my team won!!!

around the world, day #23

2007-11-05T13:11:00.000+09:00

day #23 con’t Aden, Yemen port #4

the nice guys (even though they may not look it here) that shared there lunch with us.

around the world, days #22 - #23

2007-11-04T13:34:00.000+09:00

day #23 Aden, Yemen port #4

day #22 onboard, pool deck

Arabian night. our crew members came from all over the world and throughout the voyage we would have special nights where groups from different countries would hold a party with traditional dinner and drinks, music and dancing, and some performance.

recently in Japan

2007-11-03T12:50:00.000+09:00

kaki.

Aoi demonstrating the best way to scare snakes away before we went for a walk in the woods.

Fenris.

around the world, days #18 - #21

2007-11-01T18:37:00.000+09:00

day #21 onboard, Will’s, Jon’s, and Kevin’s cabin

little party.

day #20 onboard, theater

Jon, Chihiro, and i did a series of events together called Peace Boat Math. we would talk to the captain, bar tenders, cruise director, etc. and get information and statistics about the boat and passengers and so on and then make math problems (that’s what is up on the screen in the background). here we are trying not to melt as we wait for everyone to finish working on the problem. if you think this is strange i think you are right, i totally agree with you (it was all Jon’s idea) but it was fun.

day #20 onboard, sports bar

one of the oldest passengers. maybe 84 years old.

day #19 onboard, sports bar

two of our beloved interpreters.

day #18 onboard, theater

some of the English teachers did a workshop on travel safety. here we have the second appearance of our very own Peace Boat superhero. you may remember her from day #5 when she was saving the day as Captain Communication. here she is giving a helping hand as Captain Common Sense. she is also one of my roommates.

around the world, day #17 con’t

2007-10-31T18:38:00.000+09:00

day #17 Cochin, India port #3

Chinese fishing nets.

the kids came onboard to do a performance for the passengers.

recently, in Japan

2007-10-30T17:17:00.000+09:00

chestnuts fallen off the trees.

fish.

cheese cake at my apartment.

around the world day #17

2007-10-28T12:41:00.000+09:00

day #17 Cochin, India port #3

we spent the day with the kids from the Born Free Art School (see day #13). we went on a river boat ride.

around the world, days #12 - #16

2007-10-20T16:21:00.000+09:00

day #16 con’t onboard, free space

books for the school in India. in Japan people donate English books, then they are brought onboard and passengers can pay 10 dollars or 1,000 yen to write a message in one of the books and then it goes on to the school.

day #16 onboard, 7th floor

i’m sitting at a table on the 7th floor talking with one of my students, who is an amazing poet, painter and singer when “the doll lady” comes up to discuss something with her. she carries the doll with her everywhere she goes as she has for the past thirteen years.

day #15 onboard, Broadway

Okinawan drumming dance done here for Okinawa Memorial Day. on March 24th 1945 there was a an air raid by American troops. over 200,000 people including Okinawan civilians and both Japanese and American soldiers died until Japan ended resistance on June 23rd.

day #14 onboard

Yaqoub’s boarding card. needed for getting on and off the boat, and for purchasing drinks at the bars.

day #13 onboard, Broadway

John Devaraj and Mioi Nakayama are from Born Free Art School in India which is a special school exclusively for street children, working children, and freed bonded labor children. they are doing a dance performance where John is sneaking up on Mioi, a jaguar, to shoot an arrow at her.

day #12 onboard, Sunshine bar

Rocio, Spanish teacher, from Switzerland and Spain.

around the world, days #9 - #11

2007-10-18T18:45:00.000+09:00

day #9 onboard, pool deck

a bunch of women.

day #10 onboard, free space

working the article 9 petition singing table. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is a "No War" clause. It went into effect on May 3, 1947, immediately after World War II.

ARTICLE 9. Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

day #11 Singapore, port #2

we arrived in Singapore on Aung San Suu Kyi's birthday and did a bit to show our support for her and her cause in Burma.

we walked around Little India and Arab Street.

and ended up at Jon’s (another teacher on the boat) Aunt’s house for swimming and dinner.

around the world, days #5 - #8

2007-10-16T17:24:00.000+09:00

day#8 Hoi An, Vietnam

went to My Son ruins and walked around Hoi An.

day #7 Da Nang, Vietnam, port #1

our first of 29 ports. on our way from Da Nang to Hoi An by taxi.

day #6 onboard

clouds.

day #5 con’t onboard, Broadway

Gus Miclat was the first international guest lecturer to come onboard for this voyage. he is talking about the problems in Mindanao, Philippines, where he is from, and the ways he and his group, International Initiative of Discussion, are working toward a more peaceful situation. he is also a representative of GPPAC, the Global Partnership for the Prevention of Armed Conflict. he pauses here for his English to be interpreted into Japanese.

day #5 con’t Pacific Ocean

clouds.

around the world, days #1 - #5

2007-10-12T14:54:00.000+09:00

day #5 onboard, Broadway

our job would, at times, be better described as entertainer than teacher. here we are doing a skit in front of about 300 people to encourage them to attend the free classes that we offer.

day #4 onboard, Broadway

fanning, reading, writing, listening, and sleeping, at one of many orientations. (Broadway is the largest theater on the boat)

day #3 onboard, muster station D (Broadway)

recalling scenes from the movie Titanic during an evacuation drill.

day #2 Kobe, Japan

and the rest got on here.

day #1 Yokohama, Japan

lots of good-byes. most of the passengers got on the boat here.

two women

2007-10-11T16:23:00.000+09:00

first port of the voyage around the world. Hoi An, Vietnam.

NO TIME i'll write explanations later...

2007-09-03T09:02:00.000+09:00

can you guess where these where taken?

2007-09-03T08:58:00.000+09:00

Onboard - Greek night.

2007-08-22T08:49:00.000+09:00

the ship is Greek owned. this was when all the officers had their families onboard.

Norway - fjords

2007-08-22T08:44:00.000+09:00

Spain

2007-08-22T08:21:00.000+09:00

Italy - side of the road.

2007-08-22T08:00:00.000+09:00

2007.07.20 *Jordan

2007-07-20T22:16:00.000+09:00

i´ve actually included a written explanation at the end of this batch of photos. thanks for looking!!

Petra.

mock wedding.

2007.07.20 *Egypt and Jordan

2007-07-20T22:11:00.000+09:00

Egyptian wedding.

Wadi Rum.

Petra.

2007.07.20 *Egypt

2007-07-20T22:08:00.000+09:00

me (second from right) and my roommates.

2007.07.20 *Greece

2007-07-20T21:57:00.000+09:00

2007.07.20 *what i did in Jordan, Egypt, and Greece.

2007-07-19T22:23:00.000+09:00

hello,

since I last wrote we’ve been to Jordan, Egypt, and Greece. we had two days in Jordan, the best port so far. the first day six of us went to Petra (where they did Indiana Jones). on the way to Petra we saw camels and goats grazing. when we arrived in Petra we started the walk, you have to walk quite a while before you get to the main site, a lot of the walk is through slot canyon- so beautiful. but i shouldn’t say any more, i don’t want to ruin it for you if go. but it was absolutely incredible!

but that wasn’t all, because there were six of us we had to take one of the jeep taxis that was waiting at the port and i am so glad that we did. when we first got in the driver kept going on and on trying to get us to extend our trip with him to include Wadi Rum and after negotiating the price we decide to go. Wadi Rum is a desert with huge sandstone rock formations, we didn’t see another person the whole time we were there. this was our driver’s specialty, he knew all the coolest spots to stop and even told us the best routes to climb up them. he knew where the best parts were to go super fast or to skid around corners. on the way to Wadi Rum he stopped to buy fruit. so when we stopped at the best place to watch the sunset he cut up the fruit for us. then as it got darker and the stars started coming out he built a fire and made tea for us. so many stars…

then the next day in Jordan- as part of the English program on board we have Challenge Programs in some of the ports. myself and six other teachers were leading the one in Jordan. it was a cultural exchange between 26 of our students and the students studying English at Aqaba Jordan College. our students taught them origami, wrote the Jordanian student’s names is Japanese kanji, dressed them in kimono and taught them to use chop sticks. the Jordanian students performed a mock wedding for us and to live music we danced and danced. after the program was over we were left with a bit of free time so we found a back ally outdoor shisha café (where men sit around drinking tea or coffee and smoking flavored tobacco out of meter tall water pipes while watching TV and playing backgammon). Jordan was great!

Egypt- after going through the Suez canal we arrived in Egypt at night. we only had a few hours to roam around Port Said so i really wasn’t expecting anything very exciting. three other girls and i got off the boat and just started walking. we came across a mosque, we went up the stairs to look inside and were waved in by someone and told to go around into the back room. there was an old woman who gave us something to wear that would cover our hair and entire bodies. then they lined us up with them and we went through the whole prayer with them, all the kneeing and bowing and everything. honestly, i didn’t think that they would allow just anyone to come in and actually do the prayer with them. i was very impressed.

then we left and just continued walking in a random direction and end up at our first Mediterranean beach of the voyage. we sat on the beach for just a little while and then started to head back. we saw an outdoor café and decide to stop and have some tea and shisha. my friend had to go to the toilet so as the manager was walking us through the closed restaurant part to get there we could hear loud music pounding through the ceiling so i asked him if there was a club upstairs. he said, “no, it’s a wedding party. do you want to go?”. of course we said yes. we were there for a bit and then the manager brought our other friends up. we got to dance with the bride and the band. unbelievable!

the next day all the teachers and interpreters got a free tour of the pyramids. of course it was spectacular. after the tour we had some free time in Cairo so we went to the market. it was fun but to touristy. on the way back to the bus our taxi got bumped on the side by another taxi and we got to witness a classic Arabic yelling match, a can’t miss in this part of the world!

then on to Greece- we got a healthy dose of culture shock when we arrived on Mykonos island. we went from being able to see women’s faces and hands at the most to being able to see it all, literally all. we rented four wheelers and went to two beaches, had an incredible lunch, and window shopped. the next day we arrived in Piraeus and saw all the main Greek ruins, some beautiful churches and ate a ton more good food.

next – Catania, Italy.

2007.07.06 *On-board

2007-07-06T21:07:00.000+09:00

2007.07.06 *Singapore and Vietnam and Ship

2007-07-06T21:04:00.000+09:00

2007.07.06 *Singapore and India

2007-07-06T20:58:00.000+09:00

2007.07.06 *Up through Yemen

2007-07-06T20:48:00.000+09:00

Aden, Yemen man with traditional knife.

href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ufSC1dLM_qg/Ro4tDnY2xeI/AAAAAAAAAWY/VYIeJTi3zSY/s1600-h/IMGP1361.jpg">

Aden, Yemen women.

fishing nets in Cochin India.

Cochin, India.

2007.06.06-14 *The first week

2007-06-16T14:28:00.000+09:00

(
2007.06.06 *Training Room

2007.06.07 *On the train

2007.06.11 *Drill

2007.06.12 *Lecture

2007.06.13 *Cloud

2007.06.14 *Life Boat
(will fill in the rest later)

2007.06.04 *Futons

2007-06-04T21:58:00.000+09:00

this is where we all slept at orientation for Peace Boat.

2007.06.03 *My new roommate

2007-06-03T21:55:00.000+09:00

207.06.02 *Elvis

2007-06-02T21:53:00.000+09:00

2007.05.31 *Ne-ne ya

2007-05-31T21:49:00.000+09:00

2007.05.30 *English

2007-05-30T21:47:00.000+09:00

2007.05.28 *Caterpillar

2007-05-28T21:43:00.000+09:00

2007.05.27 *Man and his cat

2007-05-27T21:39:00.000+09:00

2007.05.24 *Back to Yamagata

2007-05-24T19:14:00.000+09:00

2007.05.22 *Tokyo

2007-05-22T18:56:00.000+09:00

2007.05.21 *Te maki (sushi hand rolls)

2007-05-21T18:44:00.000+09:00

2007.05.19 *Kids pulling a Shrine

2007-05-19T18:21:00.000+09:00

this is the street in front of my apartment.

2007.05.17 *Vietnam (2002)

2007-05-17T18:15:00.000+09:00

this is a digital photo of a print that i shot, developed, and printed myself by hand.

2007.05.15 *Zuigan-ji Temple, Matsushima

2007-05-15T12:38:00.000+09:00

2007.05.14 *Haguro-san

2007-05-14T12:30:00.000+09:00

2007.05.12 *Tree roots

2007-05-12T09:29:00.000+09:00

2007.05.10 *Festival

2007-05-10T08:25:00.000+09:00

2005.04.20 *Giggle

2007-05-03T22:42:00.000+09:00

2007.04.25 *Rain

2007-04-25T23:31:00.000+09:00

2007.04.24 *Hanami

2007-04-24T23:24:00.000+09:00

2007.03.16 *Honma

2007-04-23T23:07:00.000+09:00

2007.04.23 *Falling

2007-04-23T10:24:00.000+09:00

2007.04.15 *Dogs

2007-04-22T08:55:00.000+09:00

2007.04.17 *Sakura torii

2007-04-21T18:49:00.000+09:00

(from April 6 post)

2007.04.12 *On the roof

2007-04-20T12:45:00.000+09:00

2007.03.26 *Onion love

2007-04-17T21:20:00.000+09:00

my boyfriend passed me this while we were eating at a ramen shop. sweet, huh?

2007.03.18 *Shoes

2007-04-16T22:59:00.000+09:00

one phenomenon in Japan. no matter how drunk a Japanese person is they will not put their shoes on the furniture.

2006.06.25 *Little rubber ducky

2007-04-14T18:06:00.000+09:00

2006.10.11 *Banana

2007-04-13T02:26:00.000+09:00

2006.09.24 *Swimmers

2007-04-12T23:23:00.000+09:00

decided to just start posting old photos in the mean time...

2007.04.06 *Torii

2007-04-06T11:18:00.000+09:00

2007.04.01 *Little house

2007-04-01T11:16:00.000+09:00

2007.03.31 *Nihon Biyo

2007-03-31T11:09:00.000+09:00

make-up.

kimono.

wig.

2007.03.30 *Twins

2007-03-30T10:47:00.000+09:00

2007.03.29 *Fish

2007-03-29T10:37:00.000+09:00

2007.03.26 *Inside

2007-03-26T23:29:00.000+09:00

2007.03.25 *All 400 yen

2007-03-25T23:24:00.000+09:00

2007.03.24 *Ashiyu

2007-03-24T15:43:00.000+09:00

foot hotspring (really hot, the guy in the middle can't put his feet in). these are some drunk guys that wandered out of their ryokan (tradional Japanese inn) to get some ramen and stopped for a warm-up. in Kaminoyama.

2007.03.22 *Office

2007-03-22T15:39:00.000+09:00

2007.03.22 *Giri Giri Boys practice

2007-03-22T15:28:00.000+09:00

2007.03.21 *Swimmers

2007-03-21T15:23:00.000+09:00

2007.03.20 *Little shrine

2007-03-20T16:04:00.000+09:00

2007.03.19 *Bit of snow

2007-03-19T16:00:00.000+09:00