Got the Volunteer Job

Mae & Grandma (Red Marshmallows)
ready for Church in Ocala

Sunday we went to church at the Spanish Branch in Ocala.  Why not?  Our weekend fire-bugs are all fluent  en Español .  We got so hungry working our brains to understand everything that was going on in the meeting that we stopped to eat.  Good thing, as we were served up the BEST Mexican food I'd ever had.  Give me more!  The horchata had real Cinnamon and ground almonds added to the rice beverage, and the tacos were seasoned perfectly.  Viva Mexico!  

The day kept getting better, because when we returned Dan Johnson, the host we are replacing, had the good news that all we had to do was fill out the paper application for the file, and we could start.  The job is only until the end of the month, but how fun!  We get to stay!  (Good thing, since I said I'd never leave.) 

It was so sad after the kids packed up their tents and left.  The only cure was to go on a canoe ride the next day.  Bob was up for the adventure and pedaled the mile to the Ranger Station to check out the paddles and life preservers for the half-mile trek to the river.  We were amazed at the natural beauty we encountered.  Bright yellow and purply-pink flowers painted the river banks, as did bumpy-backed gators.  The last one we spotted was the biggest alligator I'd ever seen in Florida.  He didn't look real.  Bob wacked the water with his paddle to splash water on him, and oh, yah...his growl was real enough to get us out of there.   

We found a band of playful rhesus monkeys.  They didn't mind us floating alongside to greet them.  Not even the moms with babies seemed nervous.  Three of them hung in the branches over us and were swinging in a way I thought they'd fall in the boat!  I'd recently been reminded about the woman who had her face torn off by a monkey, and the thought actually made me nervous, so Bob moved near a group who were posing by sitting together on a log grooming each other. 

The Cormorants put on a full-length show.  Three of them fought over a fish that was quickly swallowed by the rightful owner, making a huge bulge in his neck.  It was certainly evident why they are called snake birds, but I mistook one that was swimming under the water as a gator. 

We paddled up to Silver Springs and it was unnerving to see all of way to the bottom through the ultra-clear water.  The boil keeps it free from sea grass, so the bigger fish enjoy drifting about unencumbered.  Gar and bass of a "Wow" size abounded.  We didn't need a glass-bottomed boat to see everything.  Mah-velous!

Emergency in the Florida Keys

 

Life is more than good at Bahia Honda..... for the mosquitoes.  We just completed our emergency evacuation.   This chair is in our "back yard" breeding ground at the Volunteers' RV parking. The camper in #20 emailed me today (Oct 28th) about their emergency evacuation, after vicious mosquito attacks. And we were informed of at least one other camper who had to get medical attention for their bites. Hurricane Rina is now a tropical storm, which chose The Keys as its dumping grounds for the moisture it's been scooping up in The Gulf. At first a lake rising around us was rather a novelty. Our neighbor, John, just got out his kayak to mock the flood. But then the police boat SANK, Buttonwood Campground vanished under water, and our RV sank ever deeper in the sodden mess.

The brown waters of the campground made islands of the restrooms.  The campers were very brave.  Here's Volunteer Andrew strolling in our front yard.  And the last pictures are of park rangers saving the police boat. 

So...what does one do?  There are better things to do with a life than offer your body as mosquito bait and live trapped in an RV to escape the bugs, mud and weather.  Let's go on an adventure!  We really are in Florida, and our youngest son and his darling family are in Orlando.  Where should we flee?    (2B continued....)

Florida Keys Cuban Crisis

 go to http://youtu.be/PvNuxTM19Dk  to see the above Cuban Refugee Boat video on YouTube
(if you can't get this to play on this page....)

Every Friday the volunteers have a happy hour at John and Thel's site...I think it's at their spot because they are veteran volunteers and kindly shepherd us "new kids" when we need it.  This Friday one of the park rangers started telling the story of an unsinkable refugee ship that was paddled ashore not long ago on Bahia Honda State Park.  It was not unbelievable that they made it safely here from Cuba, as their "ship" did not even sink when it was shot through with a bullet or two.  It's "secret for success" was masses of styrofoam encased in sturdy gunny sacks, reinforced with steel reebar.    No, the amazing part of the story was that every Cuban who puts a foot on dry ground is awarded $10,000 (kids, too) and given every assistance to set up a new life in Florida.  If they didn't get all of the way up on the beach, they were taken back to Cuba, where they would be put in Cuban prisons.  But then the stories really started flowing.  There was the refugee who collected for his entire family, used $5,000 of the cash award for a down payment on a new boat, which he promptly used to haul 28 more Cuban refugees back to Florida, charging them $5,000 cash per person!  I thought if any of this could be true, I should have heard something about it before.

I checked out Catholic Charities of Central Florida to confirm the "wet foot/dry foot" stories we'd heard.  Another ranger said the Cubans were so anxious to be quickly picked up by authorities that once they came on shore at this park, they'd go right to the concession stand and wait for someone to "turn them in".  What?  Why would that be?   John, our host, told us that one night he heard a large group of refugees coming ashore right behind his trailer...cheering, because they had stepped on dry ground.  Another day John saw one in an inflatable boat, lined with spray-in foam, unable to land and he threw him a rope.  Was this refugee guaranteed a $10,000 grant and full services?  ...or were these just happy-hour-stories?

Here's what I found out:  "Once a person or family is enrolled they receive the following services:

• community orientation services
• financial assistance
• employment assistance
• referrals to local agencies for additional services

Eligibility for services is limited to those individuals with Refugee, Asylee, Cuban/Haitian entrant or Amerasian status. Program enrollment must occur within 30-days of arrival or in the case of asylees, within 30-days from the date asylum was approved."  [So that would explain why the rush to be apprhended.]  But I couldn't find specified cash award amounts.

Wouldn't it be cool 2B Cuban?  Viva los Cubanos!

In one sense it almost seems like a bribe for Cubans to risk their lives to reach our shores.  But isn't the aim to relieve suffering and oppression?  I admit I have a bias here.  My own grandparents were immigrant "refugees"... wanting religious freedom.   They certainly struggled.   I wonder how different life would have been for them if they'd received assistance.

Viva Cuba Libre!