Tips for Traveling Abroad-Customs and Import Restrictions

Tips for Traveling Abroad-Customs and Import Restrictions

Customs Restrictions of Foreign Destinations – What You Cannot Take to Other Countries

Many countries have restrictions on what may be brought into the country, including food, pets (see “Taking a Pet Overseas” under “Passports and Other Travel Documents,” below), and medications. Even over-the-counter medications may be prohibited in some countries. Check with the embassies of your destination countries as to prohibited items. A listing of foreign embassies and consulates in the U.S. is available on the Department of State’s website athttp://www.state.gov/s/cpr/rls/dpl/32122.htm. Foreign embassy and consulate contact information can also be found on the Country Specific Information for each country. Read More »

“The Leftovers”

The poem is “The Leftovers”.

*From The Selected Poetry of Jessica Powers

With twenty loaves of bread Elisha fed

the one hundred till they were satisfied,

and Scripture tells us there was bread left over.

Jesus did more: with five small barley loaves

and two dried fish he fed five thousand men,

together with their wives and children, all

neatly arranged upon the cushioned grass.

The awed disciples, when the crowd had eaten,

gathered up what was left: twelve baskets full.

Who then received these fragments? Hopefully,

the least (though not less favored) and the poor.

I think of those who always seem to get

the leavings from the banqueting of others,

the scraps of bread, of life, that goodness saves.

I pray that they come proudly when invited,

make merry at their meal and have their fill,

and rise up thankfully, remembering

the fragment, too were miracles of love.*

*From The Selected Poetry of Jessica Powers, published by
ICA Publications, Washington, D.C. All copyrights Carmelite
Monastery, Pewaukee, WI.

US State Department Travel Warning for Haiti

US State Department Travel Warning for Haiti

The Department of State has issued this Travel Warning to inform U.S. citizens traveling to or living in Haiti about the current security situation. This replaces the Travel Warning dated June 18, 2012, updating information regarding the level of crime, the presence of cholera, lack of adequate infrastructure – particularly in medical facilities – seasonal severe inclement weather, and limited police protection. The United Nations’ Stabilization Force for Haiti (MINUSTAH) remains in Haiti.

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