Sunday, August 22, 2010

Stimulating Conversation

When Lou Ann injured her back in China several months ago, and ended up in the hospital in Beijing, island residents Ralph and Vera put me in touch with their son Greg who lives in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. He offered advice, help, and contacts, all of which were a great comfort.

Greg has been visiting his parents on Ocracoke for several days, and Ralph and Vera invited me and Linda and Al over for hamburgers last night.

Ralph and Vera had served in the Peace Corps in Panama when they were first married, and Al and Linda met in Cameroon while working with the Peace Corps. Greg has lived and worked in China for a number of years.

It was a delightful and very interesting evening as conversation moved from one fascinating subject to another. In the course of the evening we explored the geography, politics, and language of China, topless doughnut stores in Florida, Witness for Peace delegations to Central America, higher education, prostitution, sailing, drunken monks, molas, and hoarding...among other subjects. As I said, it was an interesting (and mirth-filled) evening!

This month's Ocracoke Newsletter, Looking for the Wahabs of Ocracoke, was written by Dr. James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute. You can read the article here: http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/news082110.htm.

9 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:40 AM

    Excuse me, what makes you think that those topics would not come up in conversation at a dinner table in Dothan, Alabama ? With the internet and our developing short attention span I personally can see the connection with a flow from Witness for peace to drunken monks speaking Chinese hoarding on a sailboat to Central America with donuts from a topless waitress prostituting molas for political clout

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  2. Anonymous12:45 PM

    Ohhh, wish I had been there to share my China story, although that would take all evening!!

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  3. Anonymous1:14 PM

    I'm speechless! Now, that's a first! :)

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  4. Anonymous5:10 PM

    Please include photo of topless doughnut store in Florida.

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  5. Anonymous5:32 PM

    The doughnuts are topless, not the people, RIGHT???????

    I thought I was speechless, but after thinking about it for a while, I have to know!

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  6. Please see my post for Monday, August 23...for an explanation about the topless doughnut store. Can you top that in Dothan, Alabama?

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  7. Anonymous3:19 PM

    I've asked this before, but can't remember the answer ... if someone had a heart attack or stroke and the Coast Guard helicopter took them to a hospital, which hospital would they most likeley go to?

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  8. Anonymous3:19 PM

    I've asked this before, but can't remember the answer ... if someone had a heart attack or stroke and the Coast Guard helicopter took them to a hospital, which hospital would they most likeley go to?

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  9. I've never been flown off the island in a helicopter so I'm not certain of this answer (maybe a reader from Ocracoke knows for sure), but I think helicopters may come from either Greenville, NC (EastCare based at Pitt Memorial Hospital), or the Norfolk area (and be flown by Coast Guard helicopter to Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City, Chesapeake General Hospital in Chesapeake, VA, or Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, VA).

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