Garfield Junior High School - Gleaner Yearbook (Berkeley, CA)

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The narrow streets, which are always in a bedlam, are filled with monkeys, buses, antiquated streetcars, and automobiles. The latter are required to have two horns, one of which is constantly in use. The poverty-stricken natives live in dirty, tumble-down huts, nearly devoid of furniture, except for the hammocks in which they sleep. They live on platanos and bananas, which give them an undernourished look. The small children go about naked. Every year many of them die because of lack of proper care. Even though Venezuela is a republic, the natives are held in subjugation by severe laws, which also discourage revolutions. That is illustrated in such laws as these: No native is to raise a stick against another, and no one is supposed to carry knives or have firearms of any description. The president of Venezuela, Juan Vicente Gomez, is a man of more than seventy years. Although reputed illiterate, he has done much for his country. I have seen, in old buildings in town, native schools, where the pupils were chattering away like magpies. My brother and I go to a mission school, Colegio Libertador, which is run by Americans, but it is not much like Garfield. I heartily congratulate the graduating classes, and wish that I were going to graduate with them. I hope the new comers have found Garfield the best school that was ever built, and its teachers the best in the world. I did. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Your absent school-mate, Josephine Little, H9. A TRIP TO EUROPE No explanation or description from any one else will make you realize what a trip across the ocean is like, so you must see it for yourself. And how? Just begin by saying, I am going! Plan toward it, think toward it, and finally set the time and begin to get your luggage together, and just go! Nothing else than seeing the Old World will give you the right slant and the proper view point of the world in general. The things you will see you can read about in many books of travel — and you will enjoy reading about them more after you have seen them, but first you must read and study so you can see with an understanding eye, and enjoy what you are seeing. A pile of ruins on the top of the Apennine Mountains is not much to look at, but when you vision the scenes that have made it a place in history, and see Lars Porsena and his army marching down to be held back by Horatius at the Bridge, you look, and look again at the old towers with a greater degree of interest, so study your ancient history — for you are going there to see it all. Yes, right over the well- beaten track that all tourists take, but it is all new and wonderful the first time, as all life ' s experiences are new and wonderful to each of us — the first time. What we will most enjoy depends upon what we have made of ourselves; some enjoy the wonderful architecture, cathedrals, pictures; others find the people, the styles, the amusements more attractive; and some enjoy the natural scenery, the mountains, the beautiful lakes, the blue Mediterranean — it is all entrancing, all charming, and we want to see it all! Start while you are young, for there is so much to see and make up your minds right now that you are going. —A. Gay.

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we were approaching a large cin-. and suddenl}-. -ithout any warning, we went swooping dov,-n to a perfect landing, jogging along over the field the last few yards to the station. In just three hours, we had completed a journey which would have taken a long hard day by train and boat and train again. We had arrived in time for luncheon in Brussels, most enthusiastic over travel by ' ■airT -ay ' and thankful to have had this great adventure. — H. L. !Martix TNEZUELA Dear Garfield: This letter is the result of a suggestion made by Mr. Hennessey before we came to Venezuela, so I hope that you and he enjoy it. On our way across the States we stopped at Chicago. Washington, and Xew York- We were interested in them all. but we particular!}- liked Washington, where we stayed for three days. Our first stop, after we had sailed, was at San Juan. Porto Rico. We were there a day. Then we went on to La Guaira. Venezuela. While the boat was unloading, we -isited Caracas, the capital of the countn,-. After we had been in La Guaira two days we went to Porto Cabello. and from there to the Dutch island of Curacao. Maracaibo was the next and last stop. From the harbor my first glimpse of laracaibo i which was throush a coco- palm grove) was of houses surrounded by trees and set back from a narrow paved road. Some natives were out for their Stmday walk, while men and boys were riding along on donkeys. Maracaibo. with a population of almost S6.000. is one of the hottest towns in the world. It is situated on the edge of Lake Maracaibo. which is bordered by coco- palms and banana plants. But for these trees and a few others, the native plant life here would be scarce. For this reason it is hard to believe that half an hour ' s ride takes you into the jungle. The jungle is simply aquiver with life. Queen nests are in the trees and large ant-hills are on the ground. Flocks of screeching parrots fly around, and brightly- colored birds dart about. Farther back one finds monkeys. From our house, which is on the edge of the lake, we watch the graceful sailboats and business-like oil tankers glide past. At the margin of the lake and under the palm trees we see native women wash their clothes. From da ATi till dark over- laden donkeys trot by. and. sitting astride them in the middle of the load, is usually a man or boy. Sometimes fat Indian women in flovi-ing gowns of bright calicos and with painted faces trot past on them. At night we watch the boats illuminated by the brilliant flash lightning, known as the ISIaracaibo Lights. Often we have interesting visitors. Iquana and huge bright green lizards come into the yard. Both look like miniature replicas of pre-historic monsters. Amiong our other guests are enormous red and green grass-hoppers, which, when flying, look like small airplanes, flocks of doves, and other feathered busy-bodies, who come, perhaps, just to show oft ' their gorgeous plum.age. There are many mud, thatch-roofed houses in Maracaibo. which are painted dif- ferent colors — pink. blue, and orange predominating. The better homes have tile roofs and are named, as numbers are not in use. The name of our house is Santa Cecelia. and a short distance up the road is one named ■ California.

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A TRIP THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL We arrived at Suez at eight o ' clock at night. SearchHghts were playing on our ship and on the others waiting to go through the canal. About midnight we started through. When I awakened about six o ' clock in the morning, the first thing I saw was a man leading a laden donkey. People were washing clothes in the canal, some were eating breakfast in front of their houses, and others were gossiping. M any ships passed us. Most of these were small ones — fishing boats and small tankers. Most of the land was a waste of endless sand, with here and there a group of tents of wandering Arabs. About eleven o ' clock an airplane circled above. All the passengers crowded on the decks to get a look at it. Further on the canal divided. It broke into three different branches which joined each other later. We followed the right channel. At this intersection was a set- tlement. Several -British and French gunboats were stationed there, with bands playing. A famous battle had been fought there between the British, Egyptians, and Turks. A monument was built there with many inscriptions on it. The boat we were on, the Andre Lebon (named after a famous Frenchman), made many stops. Natives swarmed on board, selling trinkets, fruit, boas, and souvenirs of many kinds. They also performed tricks with money. Later we saw a man riding a camel. It was very funny to see him perched up on the camel ' s back, and lurching back and forth with the motion of the animal. Soon the camel ran, and the poor man was jerked up and down at a terrific rate of speed. They finally disappeared into a narrow strip of woodland along the banks, and when next we saw them, they were only a speck in the distance. The hot sun, beating down, reflected by the sand, made many heat waves. Dur- ing mid-afternoon we saw a mirage of a beautiful blue lake, with a fringe of reeds and willows bordering it. In the middle of the lake rode a snow white sailboat. Every little while a village would appear, with ragged children running around and dogs howling. When we rounded a bend in the canal, a man stepped out of the brush, bowed down, and worshipped the ship, thinking it some god. Soon a large ship passed us, leaving just about a foot between the two ships. As we neared Port Said, water appeared, about three feet deep, on the sand on either side of us. After asking about it, we found out that the water was let in, and, after standing for twenty-four hours, is let out. Salt is left, which is gathered up and sent to refineries at Port Said. About five in the afternoon we reached Port Said. Many factories of all sorts were standing on the outskirts of the city, and a busy scene stretched before us. The steamer docked for two hours. We got off, saw the sights, visited some friends, and bought souvenirs. The town is just like one of our cities, only there are more natives than white people. Many skyscrapers adorn the horizon. Port Said ap- peared to be a prosperous city, having many fine hotels, business houses, and factories. As we left, the sun was setting, spreading a golden glow over the beautiful Med- iterranean. Turning and looking back at the city, we saw the tips of the masts of ships which had been sunk during the war. At a distance, at the end of a great wall extending into the sea, towered a gigantic statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps, the builder of the wonderful Suez Canal. — Charles Callender, L9.