Colossal Understatement – Adventuring in Old San Juan

September 2, 2017

It was already Day Three of our Puerto Rico adventure and the beach, unsurprisingly, featured prominently. Our plan for the day was to walk around Old San Juan and see the fortresses. We knew there was a time limit to the activity because our children Molly and Michael are age six and five, respectively. Fortunately, one of the items in the condominium we rented was a stroller.

We hit the beach for about an hour in the morning, repeating a pattern from our trip to Florida earlier in the year. While there, we went to the beach pretty much first thing in the morning and, as it turned out, the habit saved the day a couple of times.

As the Day Goes – Planning

Amy and I pretty much let the kids establish the schedule. Because the sun set so much earlier in Puerto Rico than at home, the kids were generally in bed early and up at dawn. This schedule was key to the success of our trip, particularly when we moved on to Luquillo. That’s a story I’ll share in the coming weeks.

Molly and Michael (and Bear) at the Parque del Indio.

Our early days meant opportunities for more activity. After the beach we had a meal and headed out. We caught a special “tourism bus” near Parque del Indio. The bus seemed to operate exclusively between the beach areas and Old San Juan. It was a hot day and we were thankful for the comfortable, cool bus. I’ll underscore here that buses are the best way to get into Old San Juan. There is a long lane (Calle del Tren, “The Train Street”) running through San Juan that seemed for bus use only, and possibly only the public-run system.

The tourism bus did not make use of the lane, but delivered us directly to Castillo de San Cristobal with little delay, and perhaps a little quicker than the public system because it wasn’t obliged to stop in the convention district.

Largest Spanish Fort Outside of Spain: Castillo de San Cristobal

No description does justice to Castillo de San Cristobal. Considered for its original purpose, it intimidates, though in its modern context it’s simply a wonder. It towers above both the Atlantic Ocean and the old city, and in fact marks the border between the San Juan Historic District and the rest of the city.

A friendly iguana greeted us at the gate for some light fun. “Friendly” might be stretching it; I don’t think it really cared we were there, but it was a cool moment and we enjoyed watching it forage for a couple of minutes.

We took an elevator up and came out facing the east side of the fort that faces the modern parts of San Juan. I was excited about it because one of Amy’s illustrations for Molly Goes to Puerto Rico depicted our characters there. I took several photos of Amy, Molly, and Michael checking the particular garita that was a prominent feature in the illustration.

Scale view from the top of San Cristobal. Note my position in relation to the beach and street level.

The fort was modified during World War II to be a lookout station for U-Boats. As you might imagine, these areas provide stunning views, especially turning west (photo) to take in the colorful architecture of Old San Juan, with another fortress, El Morro, providing the backdrop. It was a unique experience. Amy said over and over how the photos simply cannot show the majesty of it all.

The Importance of Puerto Rico

Look at a chart or map that shows the wind currents of the Atlantic Ocean. The “Trade Winds,” you will see, blow directly from Europe to Puerto Rico. It was simply the first stop in coming to the New World. You begin to understand the importance of Puerto Rico to Spain, and why these fortifications were built.

Old San Juan is actually an island, one that sits astride the entrance to a natural harbor. It’s not difficult to imagine this as a key port not only for trade, but for repair and outfitting ships headed further west or south. As steam replaced sail, this first outpost became a little less visited, but for roughly 400 years, Puerto Rico was the gateway to the Americas.

Next up: El Morro.

The view of the greater San Juan area from Castillo de San Cristobal. Molly and Amy are inside the garrita, the small turrets that are today a symbol of Old San Juan.

A Teen in Europe (Part 3): Exotic Venice

March 2, 2016

It is easy to think of Venice as an otherworldly place. The geography sets it apart, but there is more. On foot, Venice is a maze of walkways. Everyone knows about the water, but Venice also bridges a cultural gap, a legacy of its rich trading past. It was so much more than expected.

Day 3: Innsbruck to Venice

Our hotel room in Innsbruck was sparsely decorated. A lonely print adorned the wall, a triumphal arch located in Orange, France. Weird. Particularly strange because of all the prints that could have hung there–and all the places it could have shown–it was where my sister lived as an exchange student. So, a print of a landmark in France, encountered in an Austrian hotel room, connected me to home. It was grounding moment before stepping into another world.

We drove through the Alps and our guide mentioned Liechtenstein. Looking at a map, we shouldn’t have been any closer to it than when we left Innsbruck. The mountains defied description. My family went on several ski trips, including one in Colorado, but I’d never seen anything like the Alps. They seemed to rise impossibly high on each side of the highway as we headed for Italy.

A Teen in Europe (Part 3) - Chris Oler Author — The Grand Canal and me, but not my jacket.

The memories of our arrival in Venice are a bit hazy. Soon enough, we boarded a large boat to head to a “glass factory.” The route should be lost to time, but I took a series of photos as we cruised toward then past the Piazza San Marco. We swept down the Grand Canal. It was cooler than I expected, almost certainly the wind whipping off the water. Unfortunately, my jacket was on the bus.

This brought us to the Murano Glass Factory. They took us to the workshop first. The gentleman made his work look effortless. It was truly something to behold. Apparently the demonstration is free…then they herd you into the store, which, honestly was almost as impressive as watching the craftsman. The variation in color and design. I thought a whole tea set didn’t stand much chance of survival in my suitcase, so I opted for a small vase, a pale and transparent blue with gold detail. This was the gift selected for my Mom.

Piazza San Marco

We re-boarded the boat and headed for tourist central. The Piazza San Marco is a small-ish, rectangular (well, trapazoidal, really) plaza with the Basilica San Marco at one of the long ends (facing east). Just to the basilica’s left, the area opens to the waterfront. This is the area you enter the square. The Doge’s Palace and bell tower for the basilica, the Campanile, are the dominant features here. You likely know this tower, whether you’ve seen photographs of Venice that include it or visited Disney’s Epcot Center.

Walking into the square, St. Mark’s (the basilica) is on your right and directly in front of you is the Clock Tower. We arrived just as the tower acknowledged the hour. Two bronze statues took turns hitting the bell and, as you can see in the photo (left), many people gathered to watch.

St. Mark’s Basilica was unbelievable. The architecture is Italo-Byzantine and I saw nothing else like it during the trip. Inside, the ceiling is covered with gold mosaic that depicts various Christian themes. What was truly humbling was the altar containing St. Mark’s relics. I’m not Catholic, but I struggled to process this. “Awesome” is an over-used slang word, but that is exactly what St. Mark’s is.

The remainder of our scheduled time was spent touring the Doge’s Palace. I usually have a good sense of direction, but was quickly confounded by the corridors and steps. Perhaps that was the intention of the various Doge, but, more likely, it was the distraction of St. Mark’s.

The Disco

We had an hour of free time before heading back to our hotel (on the mainland). The “streets” around the Piazza San Marco were tiny. The one thing I’ll never forget was the seeming proliferation of Benetton stores. There seemed to be one in sight at all times, though maybe we were walking in circles.

In any case, we made it back to dry land. Our guide Giovanna announced our hotel had a “disco.” Now, I studied German throughout high school and knew the word for a nightclub or bar in German was “Disco,” but that was a classroom. It was a little strange, given the bad associations we often had of “disco” in the United States, to hear the word in 1990 Italy. Nevertheless, we gave the disco a go, and a disco it was: all the lights you expect to find at a skating rink, but without the skates. The music was about what you’d expect in a European dance club at the time: a bit ethereal with plenty of bass. I was just happy to catch up with my jacket.

The Presence of History

Salzburg opened my eyes to the beauty of travel. Venice revealed what an incredible learning experience travel often is. A social studies teacher could assign a report on Venice, but looking up facts and photos simply does not make the same impact. The presence of history, as I felt it in St. Mark’s Basilica, was dumbfounding. The feeling is easily recalled. It is, in fact, there when I research our books. When I wrote The Shield of Horatius it was a constant. Ah, Venice!

Notes from Sydney: Roads Not Taken

November 13, 2015

A couple of weeks ago I shared some things we learned while working on the Shanghai book. These were things we didn’t explain in the book because they were fairly complex or we just didn’t have room. We faced similar decisions on every book.

The process is different every time. I wanted to share some of the thought process because we often are asked about this. Plus, it’s an opportunity to share the attractions and unique places that don’t appear in the books.

Bondi Beach, Logic, and Clothing

World-famous Bondi Beach did not appear in Molly Goes to Sydney. This was not an oversight, we skipped it on purpose and there were good reasons for it.

The first of those reasons is geography. This is a good time to reveal a big secret about the Molly and the Magic Suitcase books. Grab a map of Sydney (or any city or country the books visit) and plot out the sites Molly and Michael visit. What do you find? There is a logical pattern. The sites form a sort of trail, or, in the case of Molly Goes to Barcelona, a circle.

Why did I do this? It just seemed like common sense. Molly and Michael spend a day at these destinations. Now, I certainly don’t make the claim that their tour of Peru or Thailand is possible in a single day (without a magic suitcase), but when it’s a different story when it comes to visiting a city. The Sydney book starts at Manly Beach, makes a quick trip up to North Curl Curl, then down to Shelly Beach. From there, the story moves to the Sydney Zoo, then Luna Park (just on the north side of the Sydney Harbor Bridge), and then on to the downtown sites.

Bondi Beach is well south and east of downtown. It didn’t fit the pattern. Plus, there was another factor: it’s somewhat clothing optional. Thankfully, this was discovered in casual conversation. I talked to someone who traveled to Sydney and knew the beach. He said, “I’m surprised you included Bondi Beach.” I was taken aback. It was world famous, why wouldn’t I include it? “Because it’s a topless beach.” Oh.

Our Sydney contributors failed to mention it, probably because they didn’t think it was a big deal or just assumed I knew. Thank goodness for that conversation.

The Powerhouse

The old Ultimo powerhouse in Sydney is now the Powerhouse Museum (aka Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences) and it is geared to children. It’s interactive, has great family programs, exhibits and a focus on “creativity and curiosity.” In short, it is someplace we’ll definitely take the real Molly and Michael. The building would have been an excellent visual.

Alas, it too was a little outside of our geographic trail. It also never came up in our interviews with our two contributors that grew up in Sydney.

There was a timing issue as well. It was the last illustration set for the book and we decided the book was already long enough, so the Powerhouse was cut, even though both Amy and I are looking forward to seeing it.

And the Rest

Amy was particularly keen on the World Square and how great it would look as an illustration. A quick internet search shows you just how right she is. But in the end, it is a shopping center and likely not a top priority for our nine (Michael) and ten (Molly) year-old characters. No, the pirate ship is a much more compelling activity for these characters, as well as for our intended early-reader audience.

No trip to Sydney would be complete without an excursion to the Blue Mountains. The “world’s steepest railway” was mentioned by our contributors and I don’t recall any travel resources failing to include it. At a minimum, three more illustrations would have been needed to show the train, a view of the Three Sisters, and the Skyway cable car ride over the canyon. We simply could not fit it into the book. It is also a full-day activity (at least) and there are some time constraints in a day trip to Sydney.

If our intention was to produce an illustrated travel guide, we could make the books as long as we wanted or just have the host character (Wesley, in this case) mention a long list of sites. Other books do this. Because they do, we don’t. Our books are adventure stories and they’re meant to pique a child’s interest in faraway locations and cultures.

All of the places the books visit are enthralling and we try to share things beyond the typical travel book, things specific to kids having a good time. These discoveries are a wonderful thing to share, we love this work. There was never an illusion we could share everything, particularly because our first book was set in Rome. Instead, we want children and parents to discover more about these places together.

The Immersive (Pre)Travel Experience

November 4, 2015

Many people talk about how travel changes a person. What is it about the experience that changes you? You see, feel, taste, touch, and hear another culture. There is the beginning of an understanding about the people. You detect the general atmosphere or energy of the city.

This doesn’t have to be an overseas or international thing. There are plenty of differences between Indianapolis and San Antonio, or even San Diego and Los Angeles. The two cities are close to each other, but contrast enough to notice a few things. The differences are subtle to others, but probably not to the people that live there.

The illustrator and author at travel (Red Rock Canyon).

Austria was the first place I had an experience with this. We were in Salzburg, to be precise. Anyplace where mountains hundreds of feet high shoot suddenly from grassy plains must have a few peculiarities. Everything was clean, and it started with the air coming off of the snow-capped mountains. The cool, crisp, mountain-scoured air seemingly inspired the local residents to likewise behaviors within the city. I cannot recall a place as clean as the birthplace of Mozart, and have seen very few (if any) places as beautiful.

That trip also taught another lesson: if you speak even a bit of the local language, everything is different. A barrier is breached. Locals in many places throughout the world will breach the barrier willingly and show their hospitality, but if you do it and show just a hint of your awareness of the culture, the smiles will be bigger, the laughs heartier, the conversations more open.

I was pretty young and some of the adding of two and two happened after the fact. Just a few years later I had a much keener experience. This time the city was Washington, D. C.. The Washington I experienced was in a presidential inaugural year. There was energy, probably much more than at other times, there was a fast pace, and there was time to explore. That was the key.

Molly and Michael play Sepak Takraw with friend Yung in Thailand.

When we conceived Molly and the Magic Suitcase one of our main goals was to provide an immersive experience. Our characters Molly and Michael do not make the tourist rounds reading from a guide book. There is much value in that, but showing what is in the city only partially gives a sense of being there. Molly and Michael begin the journey by befriending a local.

We begin the process of developing each book the same way by interviewing people from the places and others that have traveled there often. In the story, the local boy or girl that helps Molly and Michael essentially speaks with the voice of our contributors. There are a few instances where the characters’ dialogue is a direct quotation. When Yung talks about his favorite dessert in Molly Goes to Thailand, the words are from someone savoring the memory of the flavor. When Marco explains the game elastico in Molly Goes to Rome, it is the remembered youth of someone that grew up there.

These are the ways we seek to give children and their parents a brief immersion into the sights and culture of the many places our books visit. Even an eyewitness account from us wouldn’t be enough to deliver the same experience. Whether or not there is an opportunity to go, you can travel and share the experience with your kids.

Notes from ‘Molly Goes to Shanghai’

October 16, 2015

This is not something I’ve done before. Consider it the “special features” section on a DVD. I wanted to record some of my thoughts (and/or the shared thoughts between Amy and I) and learning experiences while working on the books. These posts include things we learned that are not shared in the books, as well as the thoughts behind the content we did share.

Shanghai Vibe

The city is busy, fast, modern, and perhaps a bit more worldly than the capital in Beijing. This mirrors the differences between New York City and Washington, D. C. here. One travel article I encountered said that taking the high-speed maglev train from the airport into the city was a perfect introduction to Shanghai because of the high speed. The words “fast” and “fashion” were the first used to describe the city when I interviewed our contributor.

The skyline of the Pudong area of Shanghai as seen from the Bund.

She said that Shanghai men are immaculately dressed. Not in terms of social events, but for business. Tailored suits, precisely-manipulated hair, expensive imported shoes, a Shanghainese businessman spares no expense in terms of appearance. Well, there is likely a lot of competition in the world’s most populous city, so I can understand looking for an edge. Li, our contributor, did not talk about the fashion habits of Shanghai businesswomen.

There is a sense in the city that it is elite. It has long been a trading center. When Deng Xiaopeng instituted economic reforms in China (1978), many coastal cities were given some economic leeway. He left out Shanghai. This was in spite of the city’s status as a driver of the economy. In this, perhaps the city’s elitism worked against it. I recently read Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng and it gives the impression that the city was never quite tamed, at least in the eyes of the Chinese Communist Party.

No matter, the reforms extended to Shanghai in 1992. Since then, the famous new skyline of the Pudong area of the city arose. More than a little of it was the result of investment from firms in Hong Kong and overseas. As the buildings grew, so did the population.

Language

Another important piece of the “elite” self-image is language. In China there are, in the main, two languages: Mandarin and Cantonese. There are also a number of other forms of the language and they share aspects of one of these. Wu Chinese shares the same characters (spelling) as Mandarin, but the pronunciation is different. Shanghai has its own dialect of Wu that is called Shanghainese.

I have contradictory information about Shanghainese. The thoughts shared, at the same time, is that a Mandarin speaker cannot understand a Shanghainese speaker, but they speak the same language. This is true, from what I’ve learned, with many phrases. The differences are in pronunciation. However, Shanghainese is more expressive than Mandarin. That is, it has a larger vocabulary so the language is more descriptive. This means a Mandarin speaker would not recognize at least some words, possibly many. A Shanghai native could write down something the Mandarin speaker understood, but then say it aloud and be incomprehensible.

Crossroads

Shanghai is open to the ocean via the Yangtze River. It is the longest river in Asia and third longest in the world. As such, Shanghai is not only open to the ocean, but also to the interior. It’s important to note, for geography quiz purposes, that the city is not actually located on the banks of the Yangtze, but on its last major tributary (the Huangpu) before it empties into the East China Sea.

It is also roughly located in the middle of the two dominant cultures of China. We’re painting with a broad brush here, but there are, essentially, two major cultures within China, the North and the South. Some commentators say Shanghai is its own culture somewhere between and I am inclined to agree. Anyway, because of all these factors, geographical and cultural, Shanghai is at the center of things. This is also true politically as Shanghai politicians often have significant influence on national politics.

These are a few of the things I learned while researching Molly Goes to Shanghai. It is a privilege to learn so much while working. It makes it fun. Thanks for reading!

Molly Goes to Shanghai!

October 9, 2015

It’s a bit turned around, but this time out the Kindle edition of Molly and the Magic Suitcase: Molly Goes to Shanghai is available!

This is the skyline of the Pudong area of Shanghai as seen from the Bund.

We’re thrilled with this one. It took a lot of research and we had our main contributor proofread it. It’s fun and there is much to learn.

The print edition will likely be available tomorrow, but we won’t make a formal announcement until Monday. We reach more people that way. Here are a few images.

Molly wonders what awaits in Shanghai, China!

Current Work and Writing Traps

September 25, 2015

Molly Goes to Shanghai

We have a prospective cover for Molly Goes to Shanghai. In the next couple of days I’ll have the first draft of the story.

It’s an interesting process. It takes good research to get to this point because we already have the outline for the story. Writing the draft isn’t about structure, but about finding the voice of the characters, particularly the friend Molly and Michael meet in Shanghai. Her name, by the way, will likely be Li, named after one of our contributors.

We compiled a good amount of research, as I said, to get this far. Even with that, I know much more is ahead. It is not enough to know the locations we show in the book. A local makes references to other places, uses local nicknames, and his or her speech is sometimes influenced by a local dialect. In the case of Shanghai, “dialect” doesn’t cover it. Shanghainese, the local language, is unintelligible to speakers of Mandarin Chinese.

This brings up one of the questions we face: do we use Shanghainese in the story or Mandarin when we introduce bits of language? This is where our interviews are important. What we learned is that Shanghainese is mostly used by older residents and used in an exclusive way, meaning it is used to exclude others. Younger people in Shanghai speak some Shanghainese, at least enough to converse with their elders, but mainly use Mandarin in work and school situations.

Our decision was easy. The story will introduce bits of Mandarin Chinese and this is another area where more research is required.

Luckily, I love research.

The Personal in the Formal

A formal essay should contain no personal references to author or the reader. This is mainly for our younger readers, though it’s a tendency some carry for some time. This is the sixth rule in my ~~Five~~ Six Rules of Writing on the About page.

The rules aren’t anything new, but nothing was referenced when the list was created. For serious writers, similar suggestions or warnings are given in The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and (originally) E. B. White. The list also borrows inspiration from George Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language” where he elaborates on the dangerous principles behind Big Brother’s “newspeak” from the book 1984. The essay is more than 60 years old and more important today than ever.

When school writing assignments get longer and longer, five-paragraph essays and more, there still isn’t much distinction between formal and informal writing. That’s absolutely fine. As a teacher, I wanted to see the quality of ideas more than the quality of writing, but I also wanted to see progression on the writing side.

Many English teachers do not approach their craft from the writing perspective. They concern the students more with analytical tools for understanding literature. If one has to judge, I would probably agree that is the more fun side of teaching English. I enjoyed it, but gave my students a heap of writing instruction, including diagramming sentences. I’ll explain the importance of some of these things in later posts, but for now, let’s talk about formal writing.

An essay is an effort to persuade the reader to agree with you. Let’s first understand that. Because you want to be persuasive, it is important to leave yourself out. The main reason for this I mention in an example with the rule:

“I think,” “I believe,” or “in my opinion” diminish your points. ~~I think~~ the Governess was insane (Turn of the Screw reference). Be assertive. The Governess was insane.

Well, the author, Henry James, did not write the story with the belief the Governess was insane, though it really doesn’t matter for this example. Besides, the essay is about your ideas. Even so, unless you’re quoting something, the pronouns “I” and “me” should never appear. Don’t remind the reader (teacher) that this is the work of an 8th or 12th grader, or college sophomore, strengthen your viewpoint by making your voice as formal as you can.

“But,” you say, “you don’t write with formal language here!” Yes, you are right. I want to connect in a different way here, and I don’t want to bore the heck out of you. Here I constantly reach out to “you” and talk about me. If this were formal writing, I would do neither.

That is because the star of the essay must be ideas, not writing. Writing at its best isn’t even noticed. The ideas (or the story) take over the reader’s thoughts. That is when a real connection is made.

CO Author

Chris Oler, writer

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