February 24, 2007
A free packing list for travelers
Today I would like to offer travelers a customizable packing list based on one my friend Jane Burtnett originally developed two decades ago.
Hers was typed on a sheet of paper. I saved it, used it, and shared it with my mother, who really loves using it.
To update the packing list, I have entered the items into an Excel spreadsheet, which you can download and customize -- add or subtract items or categories, add yellow highlight columns for stuff you really want to remember.
I am going to upload a PDF version too for those correctly concerned about macros in Excel spreadsheets (believe me, there are none in mine, but I realize this is a concern in this Internet age).
� Created by Jane S. Burtnett, 1985; Revised Jeannette Belliveau, 2007. Used with permission.
PDF version (opens in new window)
Original Excel version (downloads to your download folder)
All suggestions for improvement welcome, please feel free to contact me.
- posted by jbelliveau at 11:22 AM in Love, Sex, Romance and Travel
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February 13, 2007
Where women choose the men they wed
"Love comes first into the heart of the woman. Once it's in the woman, only then can it jump into the man."
Isn't that a wonderful quote? It was relayed to me last week by Rukmini Callimachi, a reporter for the Associated Press in Dakar, Senegal.
Rukmini had some questions for me on European and American women who visit the Gambia for affairs with local men. I provided her information on Africa from my book, 
Romance on the Road. We had a wonderful, warm conversation, and she said, "I have to send you a link to an article I wrote on this island off West Africa. It's matrilineal, and women pick men they like by giving them a plate of food."
What better topic for Valentine's Day? Here is a link to Rukmini's article, Where women alone choose whom to wed:
ORANGO ISLAND, Guinea-Bissau � He was 14 when the girl entered his grass-covered hut and placed a plate of steaming fish in front of him.Like all men on this African isle, Carvadju Jose Nananghe knew exactly what it meant. Refusing was not an option. His heart pounding, he lifted the aromatic dish, prepared with an ancient recipe, to his lips, agreeing in one bite to marry the girl.
"I had no feelings for her," said Nananghe, now 65. "Then when I ate this meal, it was like lightning. I wanted only her."
In this archipelago of 50 islands off the western rim of Africa, it's women, not men, who choose. They make their proposals public by offering their grooms-to-be a dish of distinctively prepared fish, marinated in red palm oil. Once they have asked, men are powerless to say no.
To have refused, explained Nananghe, remembering the day half a century ago, would have dishonored his family � and in any case, why would he want to choose his own wife?
"Love comes first into the heart of the woman," he explained. "Once it's in the woman, only then can it jump into the man."
We laughed after Rukmini told me about this quote. She also recently broke the story of Whoopi Goldberg getting her blood tested and finding out that her ancestors arrived from Guinea-Bissau (West African Nation Lays Claim to Whoopi). Rukmini told me the letter from Guinea-Bissau to Whoopi called her "Your Excellency Hoppy" Goldberg.
I don't think I've laughed so much ever when being interviewed for the first time over the phone by a journalist.
Rukmini, in her earlier assignment for AP covering New Orleans, broke the story of the Big Easy selling its flooded buses on eBay. It sounds like she is doing a bang-up job covering West Africa now, too. Good luck Rukmini and let me know if you need a research buddy on your Gambia trip!
- posted by jbelliveau at 6:32 PM in Love, Sex, Romance and Travel
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February 5, 2007
Congratulations to the Colts
I watched the Super Bowl with my husband and his brother and cousins yesterday. All were rooting for the Chicago Bears except for myself and a family friend, Josh, who is also a native of the Washington, D.C., area and a Redskins fan.
It's a bit sad to see Baltimoreans who still carry such a grudge against the Colts being in Indianapolis. Sure, it's understandable that Irsay's removal of the Colts was an outrage, but time heals all wounds, especially now that Baltimore has the Ravens. (As D.C. natives recovered a bit when the Nationals finally arrived to replace the Senators.)
Baltimoreans are missing out on the great story of Peyton Manning as an MVP quarterback and the fact that the Colts have been fun to watch for ages. Josh and I could enjoy Indy's comeback after the Bears struck first, knowing that the Colts have offense to burn, are confident when needing to come back (see their game against New England two weeks ago), and have achieved something quite rare -- finding their defensive form during the playoffs (see their game against the Ravens three weeks ago).
Kudos also to Prince for the best halftime show ever and appearing to actually perform live. Can we make him the permanent Super Bowl entertainment? He's got an extensive songbook and did quite nicely on his covers of "All Along the Watchtower" and "Proud Mary."
Part 1 of Prince's act appears below, followed by Parts 2, 3 and 4.
Read more in the New York Times: A Noncontroversial Prince, Just the Way the N.F.L. Likes Him
***
P.S. Elsewhere in the news today: Another story about Ocean City in the winter, this time in the Baltimore Sun: In Ocean City, the off-season is in. I wrote a much earlier article on this topic for the Washington Post, back in 1995: Beach, with blanket: Ocean City in the winter. The Washington Post revisited this topic in 2006.
- posted by jbelliveau at 1:22 PM in Sports
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