Picture of the Day: Balcony with Flowers in Cartagena

Cartagena, Colombia
3.07.2013 

Picture of the Day: Hanging Lanterns in Shanghai

Shanghai, China
2.2009

Picture of the Day: Vegetables For Sale in Cuzco

Cuzco, Peru
11.2007 

Picture of the Day: Rocky Shoreline at Cape Peninsula

Cape Peninsula, South Africa
8.04.2004 

My Experience with Global Entry

For the past few years I've been meaning to enroll in the Global Entry program and finally got around to doing it this past December. Once enrolled you have an expedited process to enter back into the country after travelling abroad by getting to go through an automated kiosk for passport control instead of waiting in line to see a passport control officer. Travelling abroad a few times a year this saved time seemed like it was well worth the $100 fee.

The application process was super easy. I went to the Global Entry website, registered a GOES (Global Online Enrollment System) User ID and then filled in the online application. For the application you need your basic personal information, passport information, driver's license information, address history for the past five years, employment history for the past five years and a list of the countries you visited in the past five years. All in all it took me about half an hour to complete.

My application was processed quite fast. I submitted it on December 9 and I received my Conditional Approval Notification on December December 12. After that I needed to set up an appointment at one of the Enrollment Centers to finish the process. Because of the popularity of the program the wait list to get an appointment can be quite long. Frank had to wait six weeks to get his appointment at the Detroit airport. After getting his Global Entry approval he had heard that the land borders have a shorter wait than the airports. I checked out the appointment times at the Detroit Enrollment Center located at the base of the Ambassador Bridge and lucked out with an appointment on December 13.

My interview was short and simple. I had a photo and my fingerptrints taken followed by a few questions, like why did I want to be a part of Global Entry and what countries do I typically travel to. Within fifteen minutes it was done and I was approved.

On my return from Colombia last week I had my first chance to go through Global Entry at passport control. I slid my passport into the slot on the kiosk, got my photo and fingerprints taken and then answered a few questions on the screen. After I was done a form was printed out with my photo on it which was then stamped by a passport control officer. After collecting our checked luggage, Frank and I got to go through an express lane for customs as well, just turning in our printed form.

I was really happy with how quick and easy it was. Not only did we not have to fill out the paper customs forms on the plane, but we spent no time in line at passport control or customs. I'm kicking myself that I didn't do this earlier. 

In addition to being able to quickly go through passport control, being enrolled in Global Entry has other benefits, particularly also being enrolled in TSA PreCheck. TSA PreCheck allows people to go through expedited screening when going through security on domestic flights. You don't need to remove your shoes or pull your electronics out of your bags when going through security, which is really nice. If you are on the list you can still be made to go through regular security, but that has never happened to me. I was already a member of TSA PreCheck from my frequent flier program through Delta, but if you don't have that option Global Entry is the only other way to get on the list.

All in all, if you travel overseas more than once a year, or don't have a way to get on the TSA PreCheck list through a frequent flier program and travel domestically a lot, I would highly recommend applying for Global Entry. Waiting in line at the airport is never fun and anything that speeds up the process and makes it more simple is definitely worth it in my book.

Picture of the Day: Petroglyphs at Uluru

Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Northern Territory, Australia
11.2010

Picture of the Day: View from Guinness Storehouse Gravity Bar

Guinness Storehouse Gravity Bar
Dublin, Ireland
6.2004 

Iglesia de San Pedro Claver (Plus Emeralds)

As you walk around Centro in Cartagena, the dome and bell towers of Iglesia de San Pedro Claver can often be seen above the roofline of the surrounding buildings. On our first full day of walking around the town, Frank and I decided to go in and see the beautiful church and cloister.

Upon entering we decided to get an English guide since there wasn't much signage and none of it was in English. At a cost of less than $15 US, it was a good deal and Fernando proved to be a great guide.

Immediately on the left from the entrance were two bells which Fernando said were rung in 1811 when Cartagena declared its independence from Spain.

From there we headed up a flight of stairs into the cloister. It was founded by the Jesuits in the early 1600s as San Ignacio de Loyola in honor of the man who founded the Jesuit order. Later it was renamed in honor of San Pedro Claver who lived in the cloister devoting his life to helping the African slaves that had been brought to Cartagena.

Upon entering these upper rooms I realized what a perfect tour guide Fernando was for Frank. When we go to museums like this, Frank likes to point out what he doesn't think is original or as he says call out the BS that a museum is trying to pass off as original by omission. As soon as we entered Fernando pointed at each item in the room telling us if it was original or a reproduction. Floors: original. Altar: reproduction. Frank loved it!

This ceiling: totally original.

We then moved into this second room. Just out of this picture was a case of relics that Fernando said were reproductions because the originals were looted by pirates. Pirates!

From that room we moved into the room where San Pedro Claver lived and spent his last days. He suffered from Parkinson's disease and died here in 1654. In case you were wondering, Fernando said the bed was a reproduction but the mattress was original. Not quite sure about that...

We then exited into a long open air passageway. Along the side of the building were paintings depicting the life of San Pedro Claver. He was born in 1580 in Spain to a wealthy family and following his studies at the University of Barcelona became a Jesuit monk. He volunteered to go to the New World, which is how he ended up in Cartagena.

Once in South America San Pedro Claver was appalled by the conditions that the African slaves were forced into and dedicated his life to ministering to them. He referred to himself as the slave of the slaves and would regularly meet slave ships that pulled into the port with water, food and medicine for the sick and starving slaves. Over the course of his lifetime it has been estimated that he baptised 300,000 slaves in Cartagena.

We then entered a room that once served as the cloister's dining room and is now a museum (all originals, according to Fernando).

All of the statues in the room were amazingly carved from wood. The second statue that looks like cast bronze has quite an amazing faux paint finish on it and at first I had no idea that it was actually wood.

In order to prove the point that the statues were wood, Fernando rapped his knuckles on them. Yes, he was tapping on statues over 300 years old.

We headed back downstairs and into the courtyard which is divided in half by this wall that was original to the convent.

It was such a lovely and peaceful space.

In a little niche above the middle archway was a beautiful little statue of the Madonna. 

The garden side of the courtyard was incredibly lush and full of beautiful tropical plants.

At this point we entered the church through a side door from the courtyard.

The church was built in the early 1700s in honor of San Pedro Claver and features a beautiful Italian marble alter with a carved statue of the saint. In 1850 Pedro Claver was beatified and then cannonized a saint by Pope Leo XII in 1888, making him the first saint from the New World.

At the base of the alter, San Pedro Claver's remains were interred in a glass coffin.

At this point we were done with our tour. We really enjoyed having Fernando as our guide and were particularly impressed with his English, which he had only been studying for two years.

Even though the tour was now over, Fernando went above and beyond and took care of us in one more way. It was super hot with ridiculously high humidity that day and he could tell that Frank was dying in the heat so he lead us out of the church, telling us to follow him down the street. He led us into an "Emerald Museum" which happened to have ice cold air conditioning and then we said our goodbyes as he had another tour scheduled back at Iglesia de San Pedro Claver.

The "Emerald Museum" had some displays about emeralds in the back with an emerald store up front, of course. We were thankful for the air conditioning so we spent some time checking it out. There was a small fake emerald mine that you could walk through and some paintings about how the native people of Colombia used emeralds in rituals.

We also learned that Colombia leads the world in emerald production with over half of the worlds emeralds coming from the country.

Of course, the sales people tried to sell us some emeralds, but thankfully they didn't try to push a sale on us and we enjoyed the small break in the air conditioning before venturing back out in the heat. Thanks again, Fernando!

Picture of the Day: Window View from the Great Wall

Great Wall at Jinshanling, China
11.2008 

Heading Home From Cartagena

Frank and I are heading home today from Cartagena after a great week here. The city is amazing, full of beautiful architecture, delicious food and wonderful people. We spent time wandering around the old walled city, had an amazing time trying new tropical fruit at Bazurto Market and spent a day out on Bocachica exploring old Spanish forts. It has been a fun, relaxing vacation and I'm looking looking forward to sharing some of my photos from this trip when I get home.