Prizes and Awards – Lima,
July 20, 2007
OAT Group to Peru & Ecuador
A presentation by Dan C. West,
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
Unknown to you a secret committee has
been observing our group and I am asked to make the following announcements
about prizes and awards they wish to make to various of us.
The PHYSICAL FITNESS PRIZE goes to
Barbara Preese. She raced Eddy to the top of the mountain and beat him and
said, “you owe me a dance.”
The HEALTHY TRAVEL AWARD to Bonnie
Stephens. She was under the weather in Cuscu so she’s decided for her next
trip to go to Tanzania, Mozambique and Zimbabwe!
The SLEEP WELL AWARD is given to Dennis
McKillip. He carries a portable pharmacy and plugs in white noise each
night. One night he and Jim slept through a fire alarm, fireworks and a
party in the lobby. He said, “I need my rest. A little Ambien does
wonders.”
The FRIENDLIEST MAN PRIZE is given to
Elmer Sullivan. Elmer speaks to everyone. One day in the park he was
telling a guy what a great day it was. He was talking to a statute!
Elmer also gets the prize for the BEST LAUGH, the BEST COUGH, and the BEST
SNEEZE. In fact, Elmer gets the LOUDEST MAN prize!
BEST MEN’S HAT PRIZE to Herbert
Herman. His hat looks like a collapsed mushroom.
BEST SHOPPER AWARD goes to Grant
Hammersberg. He carried a large container out of the lobby of the hotel
and the Concierge explained to him it was a post-Incan trash
can.
BEST NEW PURCHASE. Fred Linton’s
new hat. He is now known as Fred BORIS Linton. Bonnie and Barbara
were so jealous they immediately bought hats that look just like
his.
WHO ARE YOU KIDDING AWARD. Steve
Stephens. Steve told everybody about his earplugs. What he doesn’t
understand is that Bonnie told him he’d sleep better so SHE could wear plugs and
wouldn’t hear his snoring.
MOST PHOTOS PRIZE. Barbara
Mikolajesha. One day she took a picture of a telephone pole. She
thought it was an Incan phallic symbol.
Prize for THE WORST JOKES. Dan
West. He has trouble getting anyone to sit next to
him.
The GOURMET BREAKFAST prize goes to Jim
Baily. Here’s Jim: “Where are my eggs? I want my eggs. I’m
going to the kitchen.”
SMOKERS OF THE WORLD UNITE award.
Fred Linton and Grant Hammersberg. Fred was SO happy when Grant joined the
group.
TRAVEL READY, GOOD TO GO award.
Suzanne Herman. Grant hauls out 13 pieces of luggage for 3 people and she
shows up and smiles and says, “Grant is good.”
LARGEST SUITCASE award. Sidney
West. She brought 30 pounds of clothes and 30 pounds of
makeup.
BEST PHOTOGAPHER award. Herb
Bernstein. The birthday boy, Herb, carries 2 cameras, a tripod, a
telescope lens and 3 camera bags. We all thought the bags had more
equipment. Herb sits in the back of the bus and from the bags takes bread,
cheese, sausage and a bottle of beer!
BEST GUIDE AWARD, of course, goes to
Roberto Durant. Here’s Roberto, on a typical morning: “O.K. Guys.
Good morning. Buenos Dias. Are you ready? Did you sleep? Buenos Dias. Let’s Go.
Listen up. Buenos Dias. Good morning.”
Roberto is the inventor of a new name for
what we variously call “traffic circle” or “roundabout.” He calls it a
“runaround.”
Here’s Roberto on luggage and the
ribbons: “I’ll explain my system. If they don’t match this is where the
trouble starts.”
Roberto’s favorite question, “Is it
clear, guys?”
And, “Keep your sense of humor
high.”
Roberto’s most famous instruction to us:
“Just put your credit card number on the page. We’ll take care of the
rest.”
Seriously, Roberto, you did a wonderful
job. You are professional, expert and very effective. You also have
a sense of humor and tonight you are a good sport as well. Thank you.
See also the later Ecuador Prizes and Awards.
First posted 07 August 2007, after file conversion by gMail’s
Show as HTML utility. Last updated: 08 August 2007.