What I Did On My Summer Vacation

By Sandi Page (Member of the FAU LLS Marketing Committee)

During the many years I lived in France, my highly anticipated spring ritual was deciding in which European countries we would spend a month of our summer vacation.  It was sheer heaven and, fortunately, I had those many vacation memories to look back on as I found myself, due to unforeseen circumstances, house-bound this summer.  Always determined to follow my personal philosophy of “Bloom Where You Are Planted”, I was ready to face the challenge! There is a certain deliciousness about unexpectedly having a string of days/weeks filled with ordinary activities, unencumbered by outside appointments and alarm clocks.  With a house filled with books and music, I was off to a good start!

My biggest joy was suddenly having all the time in the world to answer the call of two of my teenage grandsons in France.  One needed me to help him prepare for the oral and written English part of the baccalauréat (commonly referred to as the bac), a diploma awarded by the French Ministry of National Education.  It consists of the dreaded set of national oral and written exams that every French high school senior must pass in each subject at the end of their senior year in order to get their diploma.  How well they succeed in these exams has a deep impact on their future.  Created by decree in 1808 under Napoleon I, this diploma is required in order to attend university.   In my grandson’s case, he had to take exams in Philosophy, History, Geography, Economics, Math, Anthropology, Spanish, and English, all given on successive days, so that intensive studying long in advance is a necessity.    (Students take their French exam at the end of their junior year and that grade is included in their final bac scores).   To add another twist, these exams are not given by your own teacher nor are they graded by your own teacher so what you may have accomplished during the school year has no bearing on your results.  He also needed my assistance in concurrently preparing for the international TOEFL exam (Test of English as a Foreign Language), another complicated one-day series of English tests in reading, writing, and listening comprehension.  It is an exam required by many universities.  Finally, after these hurdles had been successfully dealt with, we worked on strategy and language skills for his oral interviews at universities which had conditionally selected him based on the scores he had achieved in his “concours Sésame”, yet another series of national exams for students interested in an international career in business.  All his hard work paid off as he has now been accepted into a top-level trilingual BBA program in France with all classes taught in English.   What a deeply satisfying feeling it is to help our younger generation achieve their educational goals.

My younger grandson, who has just entered his junior year in high school, needed my help in improving his oral and written English in order to go to New Zealand for a 5-week high school exchange program where he attended classes with the locals and also played on a rugby team.  He has just returned and had a marvelous time.  His English has improved even more and he is exhibiting just a trace of a Kiwi accent!

My next project was to do research on the best new laptop for my needs to replace my 2008 one which, except for a long-dead battery, still worked well.  However, it had become impossible to update my Windows Vista and my Microsoft Security program (built-in obsolescence), thus making it unsafe to use.   After resisting for a long while because of the many problems friends had encountered with Windows 10, I realized that this summer was the perfect opportunity to learn a new operating system and so, I bought a 2016 laptop.  I did not experience any kind of a learning curve, fortunately, even though Windows 10 seems to require an additional click for each operation.  The biggest inconvenience was opting out of the many ways Microsoft tries to get your permission to access your data.  To those of you contemplating a similar new laptop purchase, Windows 10 is not really the demon challenge it’s made out to be.  You’ll do just fine.

Another of my summer projects was enrolling in two on-line courses: one, with Harvard University, is a fascinating course on ancient Greece.  There is a lot of reading involved but the subject is a passion of mine.  The second course is a Spanish class for English speakers offered by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.  It is well-presented and exactly what I was looking for.    Now I can’t wait for our LLS classes to begin!

So, my dear readers, how did you spend your summer vacation?  Some of our faculty, staff and fellow students have some fascinating answers to that question!

Dr. Joan Lipton (Faculty)
Prominent Jewish Artists from Europe and America, Nov. 14, 21, 28, Dec. 5, 2016 – 2:30-4 p.m.

My summer is always wonderful because we spend six weeks in New York City for our annual fix. As an art historian, I want to keep up with current exhibits in the museums here as well as take day trips to museums beyond the city. This year, I’m planning on Dia:Beacon and the Yale art museums. Of course, we don’t miss out on going to the theater almost every night and ethnic restaurants that are special. All in all, I will need a vacation after this one from all the running around, but…then come the many venues where I lecture! Happily, I enjoy preparing them and sharing my love of art with these audiences, so who needs a vacation of R&R anyway??

Dr. Taylor Hagood (Faculty)
Hagood Reads the Phone Book: Ripley, Mississippi, Nov. 15, 2016 – 12-1:30 p.m.;
Sherlock Holmes: More Real Than Life Itself, Nov. 22, 29, Dec. 6, 13, 2016 – 12-1:30 p.m.

This summer I enjoyed a fine trip to Italy. Besides spending time in Rome and in the mountains around Campobasso, I also spent a week at a castle on the border of Lazio and Tuscany training in Italian foil style of fencing. Nestled among the green hills close to Orvieto, Santa Cristina Castle is owned by Count Antonello Mancini Caterini, whose ancestral line includes a Cardinal. Count Mancini Caterini has turned his family property into an equestrian destination, and it was a great venue for fencing. It is also within easy driving distance of Siena, Montalcino, and Florence. Needless to say, the food was wonderful, and I especially enjoyed the mozzarella di bufala, fresh prosciutto, and fabulous bread in the Campobasso area. Now I am back in South Florida and am preparing for the fall session at Lifelong Learning. I am very excited to be offering a four-week series on Sherlock Holmes, which will include a look at the life of Holmes’s creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and a focus on some of the major stories and novels that feature the famous super-sleuth while also considering stage and film adaptations. I am also excited to do a one-time event that will be unique; over the years, people have expressed interest in some of the asides I include in my regular lectures—asides that tell personal stories or unusual occurrences I have experienced. Responding to that interest, I will present some of these in a style of presentation that might be best described as a blend of Prairie Home Companion and a Jerry Clower talk. The event will feature stories of real-life people in the area where the writer William Faulkner lived and where I was born and will be entertaining as well as educational. I hope to see everyone there.

Dr. Robert Rabil, Faculty
Dr. Rabil is on Twitter @robertgrabil
The Future of Iranian-Russian Relations:  Implications for the U.S. and Israel’s National Security, Nov. 19, 2016 – 1-2:30 p.m.;
Israel and the Arab Gulf States: A Superficial or Strategic Alliance in the Making?
Dec. 8, 2016 – 9:45-11:15 a.m.; U.S. National Security and the War on Extremism, Oct. 10, 17, 24, 31, Nov. 7, 14, 21, 28, 2016 – 9:45-11:15 a.m.

I had a rewarding professional summer. I edited my manuscript The Syrian Refugee Crisis in Lebanon: The Double Tragedy of Refugees and Impacted Host Communities. The book, which was published in mid-August 2016, has already been well received by analysts and scholars. According to Professor Samuel Edelman, “this book is a most critical read for anyone trying to grasp the refugee crisis confronting us today.”

I was invited to participate in high-level U.S. government-sponsored forums in Washington, D.C. and other places. I also counseled senior foreign policy advisers in the U.S. presidential campaign. In my lectures and discussions with senior U.S. officials and military personnel, I made the following points:

The war against Islamist extremism (Salafi-jihadism) is a war against a triumphalist religious ideology that cloaks itself in the sanctity of the sacred and the history of authentic Islam. Western political leaders have blighted themselves by misconceiving the very nature of the threat and turning a blind eye to some Muslim allies whose fight against Islamist extremism is a mere façade.

Carrying out limited attacks on the Assad regime as part of a plan to help bring about a political resolution in Syria, as called for by a number of current and former U.S. officials, is a misplaced and dangerous plan. It’s noteworthy that though, in principle, one could call the Syrian state as the Assad regime, in practice, this Syrian state is part of a regime where power and the decision-making process are shared by Russia, Iran, Iraqi Mobilization Units and Hezbollah. Consequently, the United States should not entertain any plan of attack on the Syrian regime, even in a limited capacity, unless Washington has a sufficient number of U.S. troops complemented by massive firing power in Syria. True, Russia is part of the problem in Syria; nevertheless, Russia is an integral part of the solution. Both pro-regime and anti-regime policies in Syria have failed. Turkey’s foreign policy re-orientation (as well as a main cause of the botched coup d’état) is a product of this failure and its implications for the security of Ankara.

The refugee crisis has become a tragedy of epidemic proportions affecting both refugees and impacted host communities, especially in Lebanon and Jordan. Absent a political resolution in Syria, the U.S. should play a key role in supporting the paradigmatic shift in how the UN has come to help refugees and impacted host communities, whereby the protection of refugees is bolstered by helping build the resilience of vulnerable host communities.

Dr. Kurt F. Stone, Faculty
When the Legend Becomes History, Print the Legend! – Nine Classic Western Films
Oct. 10, 24, 31, Nov. 7, 14, 21, 28, Dec. 5, 2016 – 7-9 p.m.

In mid-August, my wife and I spent several days up in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, where I gave a series of lectures at the Wildacres Conference Center and Retreat.  We had a marvelous time; the people – including the other lecturers – were both intellectually stimulating and enormously gracious; the food simple, kosher and plentiful; the temperature quite moderate, and the landscape more breathtaking than anything ever painted by Corot, Turner or Claude Monet. About the only fly in the ointment was that Wi-Fi and cellular connections were all but nonexistent. It took about 48 hours to quit feeling guilty about whatever calls or emails we were missing, and begin to see in the “loss,” a significant “gain.”  What gain?  To wit, having the time to smell the roses, chill out, and be far more contemplative than our complexly-wired times permit.  Once the chilling-out process got into full swing, I found myself wondering how to best describe what the value of this non-internet, non-cellphone interregnum really was.  During my spare time between lectures and meals, I read a couple of books:  Theodore Rex (the second in Edmund Morris’ biographic trilogy of Theodore Roosevelt), David Lodge’s novel A Man of Parts (a brilliant fictional biography of the writer H.G. Wells) and a collection of Raymond Chandler stories entitled The Simple Art of Murder. And there, in one of Chandler’s short stories – Goldfish – I found the description I was looking for; a cloud-clearing explanation of the value of being mostly disconnected from the rest of the world. At one point in Chandler’s intricate tale of murder, mayhem and missing pearls, detective Phillip Marlowe informs us “It was a quarter to five when I got back to the office. I had a couple of short drinks and stuffed a pipe and sat down to interview my brains.”  Again . . . “I sat down to interview my brains.”

There it was: a simple description of a complex . . . well . . . complex.  What our high-speed, interconnected cyber world has given with one hand – instantaneous communication, access to both the accumulated knowledge, wisdom and folly of humankind and the entirety of reality within 140 keystrokes – it has also taken away in terms of time to contemplate, cogitate, and consider what we think and believe before opening our mouths or putting our fingers to the keyboard.  Because we have, to a great extent, lost the ability – even the desire – to “interview our brains.”  My recommendation?  Turn off the phone; log off the internet.  Take the time to “interview your brains.”  It can’t hurt.

Emily Morton – Staff
My summer was fantastic. It consisted mainly of relaxation with a touch of spontaneous travel as well. In early June, I went camping in the Keys and snorkeled at Looe Key Marine Sanctuary. I swam with Great Goliath Groupers, colorful Parrotfish and even a few sharks, including (possibly) a bull shark, which was terrifying but extremely cool! Looe Key is one of the most beautiful natural areas that I have ever visited, and I did not want to leave. In July, I traveled to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to visit the Grand Teton National Park. The colossal mountain peaks are unbelievable, and the area is home to incredible wildlife such as bison, beavers, elk, pronghorn, moose, bears and more! Hiking the long, steep trails and visiting the large Elk Refuge were humbling experiences for me, as I realized how truly small I am in this big world. Between my travels, I did some reading for fun and also began researching graduate programs. All in all, this was one of my best summers yet!

Ginny Higgins – Student
Summer is an interesting time in Florida.  Many people try to “beat the heat and humidity” and travel.  I get an added bonus.  My husband is one of 14 children from an Irish Catholic family.  (I am Jewish with one brother!)  His immediate family is now up to 113 people and growing each year through marriages and births!  The heart of all these people is a small 4’10” woman whose birthday is July 29th.  What that means is that we are ALWAYS in New Jersey at the end of July to celebrate.  This year was her 99th birthday.  As always, it is spectacular.  She is amazing!  Every day, she FaceTimes with all generations on her iPad, sends birthday wishes, and lets us know the latest news. Her women’s club has celebrated her life with an amazing song and dance presentation. She is a real life Zelig. Her mother was the telegraph operator for Teddy Roosevelt at his “Summer White House”, she witnessed Lindbergh taking off from Long Island on his solo trip to Europe, she took a seminar with Albert Einstein (said she didn’t understand a word he said), was one of the first to go through the “new” Holland Tunnel, and was on the way to pick someone up when the Hindenburg exploded.  She recently threw out the first pitch at a local baseball game, has continued to “act” in yearly holiday productions of her women’s group, teaches bridge in nursing homes (she still lives alone, by the way), and basically acts as a female “don” at all occasions.  She sits in a comfortable chair and everyone comes to talk to her. Over 60 attended this year.  She is busy planning for the two parties she wants us to have for her on her 100th – the first is for her friends and her children and spouses.  The second will be for her immediate family!  We shall be busy as everyone plans to attend, of course.  Just one last note.  As Jim and I were leaving this year, she was placing bets on a horse race with one of his brothers!!!!!

Yvonne Peters – Student
It was a quiet summer.  I went to Atlanta to see my grandkids and then to the Caladium Festival in Lake Placid, Florida in July with my niece and her two young sons, James and Richard. Time spent with them is always an adventure!  At the beginning of September, I took my grandnephew, Frank, to Orlando so we could swim with the dolphins. He is now a teenager and this was his trip.

Sandy Henry – Student
This summer, my son and daughter-in-law treated me to a marvelous 10-day trip to Stockholm, Sweden for my upcoming “big number” birthday.  My son knows Stockholm like the back of his hand so I had my own private tour guide.  We did a lot of walking, living like locals with public transportation trains, etc.  There were many highlights of the trip: seeing Sankt Nikolai kyrka (Church of St. Nicolas), most commonly known as Storkyrkan (The Great Church) in Gamla Stan, Stockholm’s Old Town, the Vasa Museum with the only preserved seventeenth-century ship in the world, the ferry crossing to Drottningholm Palace (absolutely beautiful) and a trip to Uppsala to tour the area and to see the Uppsala domkyrka (Uppsala Cathedral), the largest and tallest cathedral in Scandinavia. Stockholm is so beautiful!

My greatest pleasure was seeing my son and daughter-in-law’s small condo that he bought there for vacation purposes (I stayed in a lovely hotel nearby).  I met all their friends for either lunch or dinner and now I can readily accept and understand why they want to retire in Stockholm.  It’s much too cold for me.  Brrrrr!  I can imagine the winters there.  We had two cold and rainy days and I was bundled up.  After that, it warmed up to 80 degrees and was more to my liking.  It was amusing on those days to see all the Swedes gather at the water sites and take in the sun.  The food was delicious and we selected a different ethnic restaurant each day.

Jean Dessoffy – Student
Are you looking for a new travel experience?  Are you tired of the usual bus tours, moldy museums, or begging urchins?  This summer I experienced a refreshing trip where I felt that I had left my destination a little better off than when I arrived.

The TV news has recently been full of pictures of a ship operated by a new company, Fathom, when it made its first port call in downtown Havana.  Fathom operates cruises on a ship named “Adonia” from Miami to Havana every other week.  Less well publicized, but in my opinion more interesting, is where this ship goes on the alternate weeks.  It sails for the north shore of the Dominican Republic on a mission that might be described as a “mini Peace Corps”.  The ship docks for four days, turns off the engines, and encourages you to experience life helping the locals. They call it an impact activity. The passengers can choose from a range of activities designed to enhance local industry providing jobs for people in this rural region.   Passengers can choose workshops such as planting trees to replenish forests stripped for construction material, pouring concrete floors to prevent children from catching dirt-borne diseases when playing on the floor, making water filters to purify polluted drinking water, or spending a day at a summer camp for children who want to practice English.  That’s what I did.  The cost of the trip was modest, because out of a week’s adventure, minimum fuel was being consumed on the four days we were in port.  The passengers ranged in age from young students with their families to older retired folks like we see at LLS lectures.  Many college students were testing their aptitudes to sign up for a full tour in the Peace Corps.  You learn to respect the upcoming generation when you see them anxious to accept new challenges and exhibit a willingness to help others.  The “Adonia” is a recycled P&O ship that has all the amenities of other cruise ships like good food, spacious cabins, a pool, bars, etc.  There are no midnight buffets, Broadway shows, or casinos, just real people making important contributions and feeling good about doing good.  If you are looking for something new and worthwhile, why not give it a try.  Go to https://www.fathom.org/discover/

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