LESSONS LEARNED: BE AWARE
Member countries of The House of Pacific Relations International Cottages located at Balboa Park in San Diego offer visitors a window to their culture, history, and traditions. We are told that in this context Pacific means “peaceful,” which is somewhat ironic given the state of the world.
Many of the 32 cottages were unmarkable. The Cottage for France was closed. Canada is not a member.
The Asian cottages – Korea, China, India – were beautifully furnished, but the hosts were busy talking among themselves and/or ignored visitors altogether, defeating their purpose.
We were given a slice of delicious baklava in the Lebanon Cottage, and some Turkish Delight is another. In response to our questions, the young man in the Iranian Cottage eagerly told us where we could find Persian food and restaurants in San Diego.
I later asked the friend I was with if she recalled a travel program that in one of its episodes featured food in Iran. We couldn’t remember the host’s name or the title of the show, only that he had died by suicide. Soon thereafter I started seeing Anthony Bourdain on Facebook and Google, even though I have not even thought of him for many years. Very telling.
The House of England had both interesting exhibits and friendly representatives who offered us each a welcome cup of tea.
In the Ireland Cottage a group of talented musicians played a lively Irish tune to which we responded with applause. We were invited to their St. Patick’s Day Parade and Family Festival to be held on Saturday, March 16th.
We learned a host at Scotland’s Cottage had served in the US Navy as a submariner (sometimes referred to as a “bubblehead.”) He said that because everyone onboard a submarine is so dependent on one another, they form very close working relationships.
We have found Mexican people to be very friendly and helpful. The woman in Mexico’s cottage was no exception.
The House of Israeli was by far the most engaging and informative. We were greeted at the door by a woman who, in response to our puzzled expressions, explained that the cardboard cutout of Wonder Woman beside the front door not only serves as a conversation starter, but also displays the talent and beauty of the Israeli actress, Gal Gadot.
After conversing with the greeter for a few minutes, we moved inside and browsed through some of the literature on display. Outside we had noted that this was the only cottage with a security guard posted near the entrance. We later learned it had been vandalized a few month ago. One of the brochures entitled “Stand With Us” states that, “In the decades after the Holocaust and expulsion of Jews from Arab states, many assumed that hatred against Jews was on the decline. Yet this dangerous virus has emerged again around the globe.” It goes on to say that cases of assault, harassment, and vandalism against Jews are at near-historic levels in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and worldwide.
Another pamphlet describes the background of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel going back 3000 years. It explains that as a result of Jews being scattered all over the world, modern Jewish communities are extremely diverse in ethnicity, culture, skin color, and more. We were surprised to learn about Asian Jews in India, Central Asia, and China, as well as Igbo Jews of Nigeria, and Jews in other parts of Sub-Saharan Africa.
Today there are an estimated 14.7 million Jews globally, representing less than ¼ of 1% of the entire world’s population. Israel’s Jewish population is about 6.7 million or about 45 percent of the world’s total number of Jews. Of the eight million Jews living outside Israel, 5.7 million reside in the United States.
After thanking and chatting with a woman who offered us warm finger food wrapped in filo pastry, we moved to the exhibit room where a third woman answered any questions we had about the exhibits there. We learned about a few of the many important contributions Israeli citizens have made to the world recently, including:
Technology that instantly turns contaminated water into drinking water.
Flying autonomous robots (FAR) equipped with artificial intelligence (AI), that take off from a base station, pick only ripe fruit off the tree and gently lower it for collection. In so doing, it chooses the best way to twist and turn the fruit off the branch with its one-meter-long mechanical arm. It is also able to detect any blemishes that make the fruit unmarketable. This is important to the US where Mexican workers who made up the bulk of the industry’s pickers have not been returning post-pandemic. Quotas and visa problems have contributed to the dearth. Similarly, we were told that in China, urbanization has rapidly left lots of orchards with no one to work in them.
The pill camera, an ingestible capsule device equipped with a miniature video camera to visualize the intestines for detection of cancer and other digestive diseases.
QAMA, which when used exclusively as the student’s regular calculator affects their performance and, more importantly, their understanding in a phenomenal way. Calculations can no longer be performed without involving the head and proper comprehension of the ingredients.
The world’s first pocket- sized spectrometer. Enables you to scan objects and materials around you and get instant information about their makeup sent directly to your smartphone. See the nutritional value of dairy, meat, fruit, and vegetables. Track your body fat percentage. Select the sweetest, most nutrient-rich fruit. Identify over-the-counter pain killers. Find out cocoa concentration in chocolate, and more.
AVIV 613 Vodka made from seven grains and fruits – wheat, barley, olives, figs, dates, grapes, and pomegranate – and water sourced from the Sea of Galilee. “The result is an exquisite, layered bouquet of flavor notes unlike any other spirit in the world.”
Black History Month was being celebrated at the U.S. Cottage, but the stage show was scheduled to start more than an hour after we had finished our tour and we had not come prepared to sit on the lawn to watch it. The food certainly looked and smelled good, but we did not stay to sample it.
Overall, the day was interesting and informative, two elements of travel. I was happy to have opportunity to spend it with my friend Debbie.