Journal Entry 1 by guinaveve from Mason, Ohio USA on Monday, July 03, 2006

to be read 

Journal Entry 2 by guinaveve from Mason, Ohio USA on Tuesday, February 27, 2007

This was a fairly interesting book. I think the author goes for false modesty several times, trying to downplay events to make them seem more like an average Joe sort of family. For instance, the subtitle on the cover is A Semi-Dysfunctional Family Circumnavigates the Globe. The family sounds a far cry from dysfunctional. They all eat dinner together almost daily, declare their love for one another frequently and suddenly, and the children really talk to their parents about events and life in general. The eldest daughter seems to have run-of-the-mill teenage dramas, but nothing more than that is depicted in the book. The author also alternates downplaying his children's intelligence and bragging about how well read and studied they are. If the guy is going to put "dysfunctional" in the title, it should be better represented.
The story itself was good, though boring at times, especially when he delved into his first trip 20 years prior with just his wife, pre-kids. There were enough funny incidents to keep it interesting.
Another point I enjoyed was the mention throughout of books, some I have read and some I have now added to my wish list. I also liked the section where they talk about their visit to Petra. I hadn't heard of it until a few years ago when I was an escort for my son's second grade class on a field trip to the local museum to visit a Petra exhibit which they had been discussing in school at the time. It was fascinating and if I had not been encumbered by the half-dozen seven year olds in my charge, I probably would have stopped to read each bit of info about it and study all of the artifacts more carefully. Therefore, I was pleased to see Petra, the ancient lost city, mentioned in this book.
All in all, a fun read made more enjoyable by the frequent bits of humor sprinkled throughout. 

Journal Entry 3 by guinaveve at Community Center's Book Exchange in Mason, Ohio USA on Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Released 5 yrs ago (5/21/2007 UTC) at Community Center's Book Exchange in Mason, Ohio USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

I am taking this book to the Mason Community Center book exchange. You can drop off books at the community center from May 21-23 from 10 AM- 7 PM. For each book you bring in, you will receive a ticket to get another book on May 24- 26 from 1 PM- 7 PM.

I hope whoever receives this book will make a journal entry on it so that I know it has found a new home. To do so is free and anonymous! 

Journal Entry 4 by mrsjones from Hamilton, Ohio USA on Saturday, March 15, 2008

I was at the Towne Mall in Middletown, Ohio today for the American Association of University Women's annual used book sale, when I found this book. I was perusing the travel section and picked this up. Imagine my surprise when I opened the cover and found that it was a Bookcrossing book! Woo hoo! Not sure if the Mason Community Center donated all of its leftover books to this cause, or whether it was an individual who donated it to the sale. Either way it was fun to find it and I look forward to reading it. 

Journal Entry 5 by mrsjones from Hamilton, Ohio USA on Saturday, June 28, 2008

I had mixed feelings about this book. I loved the actual travel descriptions. The opening scene in India at the ghat was fantastic! I have not read any other travel book that describes the places that Mark Jacobsen did. The descriptions of Cambodia were excellent, too. And Nepal. All of them really.

What distracted me were his flashbacks of travelling during their hippie days. While most of those descriptions were good, too, for some reason, putting them together just didn't work for me. And the children chiming in with their own chapters just didn't work. It should have; it's a great idea to do that and show different perspectives, but it didn't work.

Overall though, I did enjoy it. The spots he wrote about were very unique and I liked his perspective. The way he travels is more the way I like to travel. I like discovering off-the-wall places more than tourist destinations, and Mark Jacobsen took us there. 

Journal Entry 6 by mrsjones from Hamilton, Ohio USA on Tuesday, July 15, 2008

I took this book to Haiti with me to release. I went on a church mission trip and we met and worked with/helped hundreds of Haitian people. We travelled all over the countryside and some people waved at our truck full of "blancs", but others did not seem happy to see Americans. Which brought to life one of the passages in this book that really resonated for me on this trip.

A Palestinian man in Amman said this to Mark Jacobson:
"...Americans thought they could go wherever they wanted. It didn't matter if they were unwelcome, because they were too full of themselves to know any better, or because people wanted their money enough to hide their dislike. Americans had no sense of who they really were because they did not know where they did not belong...."

I know we helped a lot of people while we were in Haiti. We distributed food and worked in orphanages and clinics and brought and spent our money. But I felt the message in this passage. I think others in my group did, too. 

Journal Entry 7 by mrsjones at Northwest Haiti Christian Mission in St. Louis de Nord, Nord-Ouest Haiti on Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Released 3 yrs ago (7/15/2008 UTC) at Northwest Haiti Christian Mission in St. Louis de Nord, Nord-Ouest Haiti

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

From what I can tell, this is the first Bookcrossing book that has ever been released in Haiti.

I left this on the bookshelf at the mission compound. I had planned to leave it somewhere else, but there really weren't many options for release spots. Not many people speak English, and if I'd left it in "the wild" it would have probably ended up ruined as garbage. You'd have to be there to see what I mean.

It might be considered a little strange to leave a book about a Jewish family at a Christian mission, but hopefully another fellow traveller will find and enjoy it as much as I did.