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GLOBETROTTINGTHIRD ISSUE - WEEK OF SEPTEMBER 5, 1999“THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE DEVOTION TO MOTION WORLD TOUR” Welcome friends as we circle the globe in search of more effective ways to improve the quality of life. During our journey we will explore various forms of complementary medicines and share our findings with you. We will also address accessibility issues and investigate more convenient options to ease the never ending pressures of traveling. In each issue, Globetrotting will have a special section created for today's youth with an emphasis on educating children and teens on the historical facts of each country. Finally, each issue will contain two trivia questions and some popular words and/or phrases from each country. For more updated news, diary entries, in-depth research results, and pictures from our journey, please visit our website, www.d2motion.com. We hope you will enjoy the path we have chosen!!
D2M TRIVIA QUESTION #1... World Trivia Complementary MedicineLet's take a trip to Lourdes, France where many miracles have manifested in over a century and a half. Now we know that we are in Spain, but we were not drawn to any modalities, techniques, or treatments the way we were with this type of healing. This is a place which epitomizes "faith" healing and draws over 5 million visitors from 150 countries each year. Now that is belief! As we have discussed in previous writings, the power of belief is the true essence of healing. If you think about it, everything you do to improve your health can be consolidated into a simple belief. It can be a belief in a doctor, a type of treatment, a medication, a vitamin, an exercise routine, a type of food, etc. Faith healing does not involve any foreign substances. It focuses on one's ability to heal him or herself with a simple, yet strong belief in God, a higher power, or in whatever or whomever you choose to believe. The power of prayer is an example in which many people can relate, even the most skeptical conventional medicial practitioners. Many times faith healing is explained as "the unknown" or "the unexplainable." These are very accurate descriptions considering "faith" is something we experience outside our senses. The wonders of Lourdes is based on faith, yet the initial interest and curiosity generated can be traced back to an experience of the senses. Let's further explore the healing energy of Lourdes. On February 11, 1858, a young girl named Bernadette Soubirous left her home to go and collect firewood. Suddenly, she heard "the sound of the wind" and then saw a light which soon lit up the silhouette of a young girl. The girl smiled at her and invited her to pray. The young girl disappeared, but Bernadette was drawn back to this area, now called the "Grotto" in Lourdes, one week later. At that time there was an exchange of promises. "Would you do me the favor of coming here for two weeks?" the silhouette asked. Yes," said Bernadette. "I don't promise to make you happy in this world but in the other," the silhouette exclaimed. The other world is the world of love that Bernadette was to experience on this earth even in the midst of suffering. During the two weeks the way of the other world was pointed out to her as being, conversion, and a change of heart. The silhouette, whom we can now inform you was the Virgin Mary, asked Bernadette many questions and told her what she needed to do to help others. One of the requests of the Virgin Mary was to go to an area inside the Grotto and begin to drink and wash herself. Initially, there was no water. Suddenly, water began to bubble up through the mud and a spring was born. Many more apparations of the Virgin Mary appeared to Bernadette. Soon word about Bernadette began to spread around her small village and pilgrimages to the Grotto evolved. Hundreds and then thoousands of people from all over the world began to flock to this small village at the foot of the Pyrenees, in the south of France. Now, there is much more to the story of Bernadette and the apparitions, but to tell you everything about the history of Lourdes would be a disservice to you. We will bring you up-to-date and let you know what is transpiring at Lourdes, even as we are sharing our experiences with you. Today, people from all over the world make pilgrimages to Lourdes in hope of answered prayers. Any type of prayer you could possibly think of has been requested in Lourdes. Once you arrive in center of the city, you are greeted by several statues, one being of the Virgin Mary. Many offerings are made at this statue. Directly across from this statue is an enormous chapel with upper and lower basilicas. Services are performed in the middle of the day and at night in this vicinity. In the evenings at the night vigils, people purchase candles and the whole village is lit up. Bernadette came to meet Mary with a lighted candle in her hand. Each year millions of pilgrims repeat this action which reminds us of the words of Jesus, "I am the light of the world." If you so choose, you can buy certain candles which you can place in the barrow near the Grotto. Now, if you are in total judgement because the majority of this report on Lourdes has a "Christian" twist to it, let it go! Yes, the entire sacred space of Lourdes is based on Christian tradition, but that does not stop the millions of "non" Christians from congregating here. Why? Once again, it is about belief and faith. If you make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, no matter what your religious affiliation may be, and you have faith, then you will have a healing experience, on some level. When we totally focus on a particular religion are we really in acceptance of all the other religions, beliefs, or faiths? Only you, each and every individual can be honest with yourself and answer that question. If you have ever been to Lourdes, you will know what we are talking about. Lourdes does not discriminate. Lourdes is about acceptance. And when you are in place of acceptance, everyone is welcome. One particular physical object seems to attract the most attention from visitors of Lourdes. The water from the spring which was first discovered by Bernadette on February 25, 1858. It is not magical water. Tests of the water reveal that it is ordianry drinkable water without any special properties. The flow of the water varies, like any mountain spring, according to the changing seasons and is piped to the taps and baths. What is so significant about the water you may ask? Absolutely nothing, except faith in it. It is a sign of our trust in God or whomever or in whatever you choose to believe. Imagine if we put our faith and belief in other things in life that are so simple. Almost all visitors bring containers to fill up with water so that they can either bring it home for themselves or share it with others. In addition, 17 baths have been cut into the rock right next to the Grotto. The water from the spring is very fresh and about 60 degrees fahrenheit in the summer. It is said that once you remove yourself from a bath, you immediately dry. For many, a bath in Lourdes is symbolic of baptism. It is a cleansing and a purification in which people remove all of their clothes, put on a simple gown, and are placed in the bath by approximately six loving individuals. Men and women are separated, but are given the same loving treatment. Once you are in the water, it is very powerful if you release your own intention or prayer. During this brief 30 second bath, the individuals assisting you are pouring water over your head and down your back and saying a prayer for your healing. In many cases, prayers are for physical healing, but as we are sure you know by now, there are various needs of healing. For those visiting Lourdes who are handicapped, plenty of assistance is provided to eliminate any worries of taking a bath. Each year, 70,000 sick and handicapped individuals coverge on Lourdes in search of healing. So, rest assured that if you are sick or handicapped and visiting Lourdes, you will be treated with the utmost respect and in many cases, referential treatment. We should forewarn you that if you are abled-bodied or seemingly healthy, you may have to wait a number of hours to bathe. But trust us, it's worth the wait!! During my bath at Lourdes, six men, who were making a pilgrimage from Italy, assisted me in getting undressed and placed me in the water. Now I am fully capable of undressing myself and getting into a bath, but for some reason, at that moment, I just surrendered. These angels wanted to help me heal and if by assisting me with the process of getting into the bath was a part of their mission, I supported them fully. The experience brought tears to my eyes. By the way, the water was very cold and it did not dry immediately in my case. Still, when the whole experience was over, I felt a peacefulness overcome me unlike any other moment in my life. Pat and I will treasure our Lourdes pilgrimage forever. We were uncertain as to when we should inform you of the miracles which have evolved in Lourdes. It was our objective to have you focus on belief for the entire report and now read the following important statistics. This will get you back to your intellect which is craving some substance at this point. The first exceptional cure was that of Catherine Latapie on March 1, 1858. Her paralyzed right hand was suddenly cured after she had prayed and then plunged it into the spring in the Grotto. Since then, thousands of extraordinary cures have been documented by the Medical Bureau. This bureau is composed of doctors and specialists from all faiths, including the most intense skeptics and disbelievers. By viirtue of the prudence, the Church has declared 65 of these cases to be "miraculous" cures. Now do you believe?? Our thanks goes out to our dear friend Francis at the Astoria Hotel for her friendship and history lesson of Lourdes and to the hundreds of sick and disabled people who were there at the time of our visit, for teaching us how to be more grateful. It should be noted that we did have a healing experience in Spain. During the course of our journey, we are giving beanie babies (toys) to sick children and children in need. While in Seville, we were fortunate to visit the Hospital Universitario "Virgen del Rocio" and give toys to 50 boys and girls who primarily are battling cancer. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Juan Mellado Jimenez, director of the maternity and childrens unit at the hospital, for allowing us to reach out to these children and also learn from them. It was an experience which we will carry with us forever!
D2M TRIVIA QUESTION #2... Funny Trivia Accessibility Based on AbilityOur research on accessibility in Spain began with a trip from the airport to our hotel. This sounds pretty easy, but guess again. Due to the amount of luggage we had, as well as what we believe was a fear of the wheelchair, we had to convince a couple of cab drivers to take us on. After passing up about three different drivers who said they didn't have enough room, we finally became friendly with one who was willing and able. As we arrived at our hotel in Seville, we noticed there is no easy entrance for those in a wheelchair, with luggage, or with a baby carriage. There is an entire flight of stairs and no curb cut for Scott to enter. The handicap entrance is on the other side of the hotel, with itself is no easy trek. There is a makeshift ramp, as well as a worn out curb cut. Then, once in the hotel there are steps throughout the premesis with unbelievebly steep ramps to compensate for the steps. This is a four star hotel, which claims to be accessible. We have had a similar experience in Madrid, where there is at least a 45 degree incline with no room for error at another four star hotel. I encouraged Scott not to become road kill so early on in our journey. Speaking of road kill, the majority of streets do not have corresponding curb cuts. For example, say we're trying to cross a major highway, one side will have a smoothe curb cut and as we reach the other side of the street, we come across a 4or 6 inch curb cut get onto the sidewalk. Which means a Scott has three choices: do a major wheelie and hope he makes it, keep pushing on the street hoping not to get hit by a car / bicycle, or ask for help. Having curb cuts on both side of the street not only benefits those in a wheelchair, but also baby carriages, those who walk with a cane, the blind, and the elderly. Having to take a smaller step makes transportation for all individuals much easier. While in Seville, we also noted that the street are more convenient for the blind, as each street corner has a different pavement and while the "WALK" sign is on, you can hear sounds of birds chirping. We didn't pick up on this until after crossing the street a few times and looking up for birds. We really looked like tourists wandering around looking for birds. After we crossed a few street, these birds were still chirping and there were no trees in sight, then we figured out the connection: "birds chirp = people cross = WALK sign" (what a pleasant discovery). :-) Now back to hotels, the majority we researched in Madrid were mainly 4 & 5 star hotels, because we found that the 2 & 3 star hotels had 3-4 steps to enter, and no ramp. Not to worry about finances, the U.S. Dollar is strong versus the Spanish pesata, meaning more for your buck. It should be noted that even the 4 & 5 star hotels we visited would not have lived up to the criteria for a truely accessible hotel in the United States. Some exceptions and leniancies had to be made on our part in order to give the hotels the benefit of doubt for at least making the attempt. Our guidelines could not be as strict as those of the ADA (American Disability Act), because then almost all of the hotels we have seen would fail to meet the criteria for accessibility. To sum up hotel accessibility in Spain, we have found that there are hotels that are making the attempt to make trave a bit easier for those in a wheelchair, however, we found no strict guidelines which are enforced. A new, inspired group of six individuals, called PIMS, has combined its efforts with four local foundations to publish a guide for tourists which details accesible hotels, taxi services, bus information, as well as tourist attractions in Seville and surrounding cities. Although at this writing, Scott & I are unsure of how these guidelines are set and who sets them due to a language barrier), we are in persuit of answers and as we obtain the information, we will post it to you. The director has informed us that an English translation of the guide and their website, www.valinet.org are forthcoming in the next year. I can speak a little Spanish, but am not fluent enough to understand completely. Nonetheless, there are efforts being made to make Spain, especially Seville, more accessible. The word around town is that Barcelona is the most accessible city in Spain at this time due to the recent Olympic Events, which are followed by the Paralympics for the disabled. For your information, when a city is interested in hosting the Olympic Games, one of the requirements is that the city must make the necessary renovations to accomodate the handicapped. Too bad every city in the world wasn't interested in hosting the Olympic Games. Even though Barcelona is considered Spain's "hanicapped capital," other cities have not posed enough serious interest to foster major changes. In our opinion, though, it is appropriate that we commend Spain for their efforts in making buses and trains more accessible. We contacted the tourist board in Madrid and Seville about accomodations for the handicapped and they informed us that there are at least 1 or 2 buses on each line that are accessible. "Pisa Bajo" meaning low step is inscribed on the buses which are accesible. A ramp is supposed to come out whereby a wheelchair can enter. Here are two interesting facts about Seville that we could not avoid sharing with you. First, Scott was not taken through any kind of security check while arriving to and departing from Seville's airport. We assume that either handicapped individuals are not capable of commiting crimes or that Seville's airport security is much too trusting of its tourists. Second, we noticed that handicapped restrooms are located only in the ladies restrooms, in Seville's airport. We won't even begin to try to rationalize this one!! As far as the taxis are concerned, all are like regular cars, unless you contact a company called Eurotaxi which is specially equipped to load an entire wheelchair (like the black cabs in England). We have been told that the trains are accessibe from certain stations, however, none of the entrances that we saw had elevators to enter. Once again, if you wish to travel to Espana, and you are in a wheelchair, we advise that you do so with a companion who can assist you physically and translate for you. Our thanks go out to Mr. Manuel Jimenez of Hernandez, president of PIMS for taking to time to meet with us, Mr. Luis from the Madrid tourist board for assisting us with our research, Paloma of Hotel Husa Princesa for providing us a tour of the hotel and her honest opinion of bullfighting, which Scott and I found to be quite cruel by the way EducationPROPER NAME OF COUNTRY: Reino de Espana Facts:
Historic dates:
ON a LIGHTER NOTE... Do you know Scott's Spanish vocabulary???
Lighter Note Commentary: Your Help is Needed!!!We will be traveling to United Arab Emirates
(Dubai), Israel (Tel Aviv), Egypt (Cairo), Kenya (Nairobi) and South
Africa (Capetown) in the next few months. If you or any of your family,
friends, and/or colleagues have contacts (alternative medicine
practitioners, hotels, children, or simply friends and family) in these
countries, please email us
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