World Neighbor Puerto Rico Day 1

World Neighbor


After our adventure and late night on the way in, Demetria and I woke up late and hit Old San Juan. We saw several interesting sites. Aside from the standards like El Morro fort and the beautiful waterfront we spied some cool graffiti art.














I was lovin’ the rice and beans. The rice was a shorter grain and had a much better taste to it than the rice I typically eat at home. The food was great everywhere we went. I went for the spicy stuff. It’s not good unless it makes you sweat. For obvious reasons the seafood was fresh and fantastic. We toured the big El Morro fort and checked out the period weaponry. There were cannons and cannonballs on display. The kids would have loved this stuff.


There was a bunch of people flying kites in the big field in front of the fort. The location was perfect with steady gusty winds. It was a great way to just hang out and gel with the locals. Everyone that we encountered was very nice. I could get used to the island life! We took the bus back and forth to Old San Juan since it was regularly scheduled and convenient. I tried my first Mojito…with my low blood sugar this sucker got me revving! Of course I usually crash as soon as I get spastic from the sugar high so I don’t often partake in sugary drinks. But since rum is the national drink I had to…really it’s like a law that I did not want to break. I was also able to enjoy a few Puerto Rican brews (Medalla) so I balanced the load.

World Neighbor Store

World Neighbor and the Bountiful Greek Gifts

My wife, Demetria, is Greek so we decided to go to Greece and Italy for our honeymoon. We got off our plane in Athens before transferring to the to another plane to the island of Mykonos. While we were taking the tram to the terminal Demetria got a nice face full of hairy armpit. Demetria is a bit shorter than me so she was perfect nose level with a few folks that were holding onto the overhead straps. She just stood there looking a little defeated and braved it out. I winked and smiled at her ;-)

Later that day night after an Olympic Airways twin prop flight from hell, we slid into our room in Mykonos. The next morning we awoke to the beautiful views of the Mediterranean Sea from our hotel window. We enjoyed a continental breakfast on the sunny patio and got ready for our day. We headed down to the marina so that we could take in all the artisans painting and selling their crafts. We came away with a few fantastic paintings depicting scenery on the Greek islands. We also purchased a number of worry beads to give as gifts to our friends. This is the trip that inspired me to find and import ethnographic art and cultural crafts. I always have such a great time searching out the unique one of a kind items and talking with the creators. Demetria and I took our new treasures back to the hotel and spent the rest of the day on the beach. The topless ladies were having a great time but Demetria wasn’t having it. She was quite happy with her great little bikini …as was I !

Visit World Neighbor!!

World Neighbor Italian Style - The Venetian Vex

We traveled from Rome up to Venice on a tour bus with an interesting and diverse group of folks. One couple in particular was funny in a sad, tragic kind of way. Their names were Dave and Martha from Connecticut, USA. Dave was a sales executive at some large corporate joint. Martha was, as her name may suggest, a homemaker. I’m guessing they were in their mid 50’s and they were both very nice to chat with initially. We sat with them at dinner and it soon became clear that Mr. Dave was the ruler of the roost. He was very demeaning to his wife (and here we are on our honeymoon!). I remember one exchange that Mr. Dave and Martha had in particular about a dishwasher. Martha offered my new wife Demetria a helpful hint on getting some gunk off of a plate by using the dishwasher. Mr. Dave scolded her and let her know that us newlyweds probably didn’t have the high-end model dishwasher that they had so the suggestion was no good. Wow…slammed his wife and us all in one fell swoop!

I felt sort of sorry for Martha as she would just take Mr. Dave’s venom and move on to more “pleasant” discussion. She was clearly co-dependant and in need of a getting out of this life she had become accustomed to. I found it sad to think about the fact that there are probably so many dysfunctional marriages (and hence the high divorce rates). But at the same time it made me appreciate Demetria even more. Demetria isn’t having any of that nonsense! …On to the gondolas and St. Mark’s square to pay $25 US dollars for a cup of coffee!! (Seriously, do NOT order a cup of coffee in St. Mark’s square because they automatically tack on an “entertainment” fee onto your bill – even if the “entertainment” is on a “break”).

Come check out the WORLD NEIGHBOR STORE!

World Neighbor Italian Adventure - A Close Shave

While we were in Sorrento and making day trips to Capri I needed to get a haircut. We stopped by the local barber shop (candy stripe spinning pole and all). The friendly barber greeted us in Italian and had me step right up. Some neighborhood friends of his were hanging out reading the newspaper and talking. I just opted for the straight shave of the head. The Italian peanut gallery were all interested in the American guy that was about to get his head shaved down. Instead of the barber breaking out the electric shaver he started sharpening his straight razor on the leather belt hanging from the chair. I looked into the mirror and gulped! The barber laughed with the blade up and pointed to it and said something in Italian. I just motioned that it was no problem and he should go for it.

He lathered me up with the old-fashioned mortal and pestle lather and got down to business. His hand was as steady as a surgeon as he drew the sharp blade across my scalp. My new bride, Demetria, was hanging out with the Italian peanut gallery drinking coffee while my new shaving cream ‘fro was being removed by the skilled hands of the barber. The barber completed with some finishing touches and placed a warm towel, scented with lemon no less, on my head. The pièce de résistance was the manly smelling aftershave that the barber applied which made my scalp tingle with pleasure. This was one of the most enjoyable head shavings that I have ever had. The only thing that would have made it even more perfect would be a neck and head message from my gorgeous new bride at the same time! I guess there are some things that don’t get better with technological and process “improvements”….

World Neighbor - St. Patrick’s Day in Ireland

My buddy and I took a trip to Ireland over St. Patrick's day. My friend had some relatives that we were going to stay with so we could travel on the cheap. We traveled with his mom so that she could visit her sister and family back home. We were only a short walk from the town's main pub in Gallway. We decided to go hang there with the family and locals for St. Paddy's day. The owner was a cousin of my friend so we were planning on being "locked in" with some of the other regulars after the standard closing time.
We had a blast. I was drinking apple cider. My new Irish friend Joe was telling me that if I drank too much cider I would go mad. It was so good, I just couldn't stop pounding them back. We were all hanging out and singing songs. Our new Irish friends were singing traditional Irish songs and my buddy and I were singing old standards. We were arm in arm swinging back and forth singing/screaming at the top of our lungs. The owner cooked up some bangers (sausages for the uninitiated Americans reading this) and we scarfed those down in quick order.

I had to go to the bathroom and I got up with my cider and went to do my business. They all gave me a hard time because they all leave their beers when they go to the toilet. My buddy joined in on the fun. "Are you sure that's cider boy-o?", "Hey Mary another round of piss for my friend over here", etc… It was pretty funny. I couldn't even get a word in edge wise to explain that everyone in the States took their drinks with them or else the drink would be thrown out (just another example of how the States are much less personal I suppose!). At one point at the height of my stupor I started getting all lovey-dovey and decided that I had to call my girlfriend (at the time). I headed outside to the town's public phone and called her up. She listened to me as I slurred through my speech about how much I missed her and how I couldn't wait to see her again…and she married me anyway!
We finally staggered out of the bar when the birds were singing and the sun was just peaking it's head up over the horizon. We slept the entire next day and got up to hit the town for some dinner. Our livers were screaming at us to take it easy, but we had to have some Guinness for strength after all!

Come Visit World Neighbor

World Neighbor – The Blarney, Roof Dancing and More Irish Fun

Our trip to Ireland was a whirlwind. We made a point to go to Blarney castle to kiss the Blarney stone. We climbed the old stone castle and stood in a short line. We made the trip with Phil’s cousin Patty. She was first up. An old Irish gentleman was in place helping the tourists get into position on their backs, stick their heads over the ledge and kiss the Blarney stone upside down. When Patty jumped into position, the Blarney man said “well she sure is an eager lass isn’t she?” Patty just laughed and tapped him on the arm as if to say “oh you dirty old man”. She puckered up and kissed the stone. I was next up and I had put some Chapstick on my dry lips prior to climbing up the castle steps. When I got into position and pecked the old stone the Blarney man said “Oh boy he’s slobbering all over the stone he is”. He made a big production about taking a handkerchief from his pocket and wiping off the stone. I retreated red faced… but then I heard him repeat the same routine about 15 minutes. The old showman had to keep the crowd entertained!

We took off, made a short stop in Waterford for some crystal and went back “home” to get ready for a fun night. Patty’s husband Sean was DJ’ing at a local pub that evening so my buddy and I went along to help him set up. The three of us shoehorned ourselves into his small car with his two large speakers and DJ equipment. We road off down the country roads to the town and started the process of setting up the equipment. The pub owner told his son to take care of my buddy and me so we ordered up a few pints and settled in. My buddy Phil decided to switch over to the “mad cider” after a few pints. He asked for the pub owner’s son for some ice in his cider. The boy returned and, “plink”, dropped in a cube. Phil looked at him and asked for some more ice. The boy obliged, “plink”, in went another ice cube. Phil started laughing. “Boy-O, bring me a bucket of ice and make sure it is full to the rim”. He popped a couple of punt on the bar and the boy happily obliged.


We were having a great time hanging with all the locals and enjoying the music. There was a line for the WC so Phil got the idea to head out back to take a leak. When he came back he had a devious look in his eye and told me to follow him. We went out back where I saw a little ladder against the side of the bar. We climbed up onto the roof and had a drink. Before too long a few of the locals were up on the roof with us and we all started singing along to the music. We packed it up and went back down just in time for the last song of the night. The lights went up, the National Anthem of Ireland played and everyone sobered up for a few teary eyed moments. It was a pretty inspiring scene.

World Neighbor Deals With Difficult People

So at my day job I work with a guy who is an equal opportunity grouch. He is one of my customers and I am his supplier. Unfortunately he knows a lot about the industry and he works for a company with a culture that values condescension. This makes for a dangerous combination. He berates everyone on my team (and often people in his own company). As you can imagine this makes working a great joy. I’m not sure how people like this tick. I guess we all have to realize that people like this have incredibly low self-esteem and are miserable. Still I would like to haul off and clock this stooge sometimes. …just a little life lesson on a micro level. If we have these issues at a personal level how in the heck are we supposed to work things out between different ideologies, cultures, countries, religions, and politics? Well…call me an optimist but I think we can do better with all our relations. We will always have people that are difficult to deal with and we will just need to learn how to boost their self esteem enough to bring them along. Best o’ luck to you all – I know from first hand experience that it is no easy assignment.

Visit the World Neighbor Store