Attacked!!!!!!!!

It was a sad, dark, wet, dreary day when I was ATTACKED. Now, don't worry too much because Deepa thinks it's quite funny, and I am sure you will too (at my expense...read on, see if you think it is funny. I am sure you will too.)
Was I lucky enough to be attacked by a human? No, not me.
Was I lucky enough to be attacked by a non-slimy creature? Nooooooooooo.
Here's the story from the "Hindu Times", dated 9.11.2006

"Foreigner's Blood Sucked Majorly"
While walking through monsoon rains in the Periyar National Park, an American girl was attacked by not one, but two leeches, on her right arm. The attacks could have been much worse if she hadn't listened to her wonderful guide who made her and her friend wear special burlap socks which prevented many leeches from sucking the blood in their feet. The white girl had, at highest count, 28 leeches on the burlap socks. She was completely preoccupied with flinging them off of her pants (you see, they kept crawling up her legs. Her weird guide said "You have nice blood) the entire time while in the world renouned Periyar. She was so busy flinging them off of her that she didn't even notice the herd of elephants coming at her. Thankfully they saw her and didn't stampede and kill her.* Her friend, Deepa, laughed at her, and said "This was the first time I saw Catie lose her cool. Hahahahahaha." It was a good thing that her hotel had salt ready for her and put salt all over the enormous leeches on her arms, otherwise this wouldn't have been such a thrilling to anyone but Catie story.
--associated press

It was the sickest thing I have ever had happen to me. However, I have gained something to say to men who annoy me at the bar "Did you know I had 2 huge leeches on my arm for a few hours?" Should take care of them. Yes, indeed.

Since my traumatizing event, we've seen wild dogs, elephants, buffalo, Munnar Tea Gardens (goregous), and the Sri Manakshi Temple (Taj Mahal of the South). Can't wait to share pictures!
Tomorrow we head to Bombay to conclude our journey here. Sad and exciting at the same time. India is a great place and I will miss it tons (minus leeches) but I am looking forward to new clothes (same yucky ones for 2 months = BORING), laundry, Starbucks, dairy, and non-scary driving. Using my credit card, etc.

*Fictional. The leeches, though, are true. Eew.

Maimed people

After our houseboat adventure, we landed in Kumarakomb (those of you who are tracking me on maps, I am sure you have noticed I can't spell anything here correctly. West coast, southern India). There's nothing much written in our travel bible aka Lonely Planet about this town so we just started walking down the only road it has. All of a sudden, as if it were a mirage, a "museum" sign in big blue letters appeared. After scaling the fire escape, we found ourselves in the one and only driftwood museum. It was a riot...unique and funny. The woman who runs it gave us a very endearing tour of driftwood she's found that she has molded into shapes. Aside from showing us a group of 5 piece that was a handicapped family "See, that one is missing it's arm. That baby has a hole in it's hand" she would take her metal pointing stick at random times and hit the driftwood hard to show us it was now a fossil and prove her point: nature works in amazing ways.
We're totally writing to the Lonely Planet to have it added. It's worth seeing and funny.

Kerala Love

The South of India is absolutely goregous. WE've been beach hopping and LOVING it!! What is a typical Indian beach like?
- HUGE waves (i.e. you don't swim if you have a brain...)
- No one wears bathing suits
- men in their tighty whities spashing around
-women in sarees trying desperately not to get all wet
-kids kicking water on eachother
-no one lays out, everyone is standing
-massive palm tree filled, red dirt coasts
-and of course, there are the 100's of Indian people gawking at me if I hapen to be there :)

We're now in the middle of our house boat tour of the Kerala backwaters. We were just in Kovalam and are on our way to Kumaracomb. IT's absolutely breathtaking - 100s of palm trees, rice patties, kids waving to us from their villages, etc. This computer is horrid so I am off - and dinner is awaiting us (why am I going back to work?!?!?! This is so much better!!!) :)
MIss you all. wish you were here to enjoy this with us.

Chennai, Catholic Churches, and Chutney

Chennai - a city on the Bay of Bengal - took Deepa and I hostage for some great experiences for the past 3 days. To begin with, we got an aruyvedic massage which I had been pushing for. We went to the place Deep's uncle recommended and I was a bit skeptical at first because they take your temperature and prescribe oils for you - the "dr." wasn't able to tell me WHY he assigned certain oils to me. I got over that, though, but got even more weirded out when , on massage day, Deepa went first and she simply said "th e massage was interesting."
Relaxing, comforting, wonderful, amazing...these are words she should have uttered. Certainly not "interesting"
That was my second clue I was in for a treat. Here's the massage (all that I haven't repressed) in time order:
1 - take off nearly everything
2 - lay down on your back on a table
3 - have warm/hot oil rubbed into your head
4 - beg the woman not to put that oil on your face because you wear contacts.
5 - act out what contacts are
6 - have oil poured over your entire body and rubbed in
7 - listen to this "thump, thump, thump" noise
8 - feel burning hot packs of something being used to soak up oil
9- flip and have it done to the other side - burning packs and all
9 - get a bath from the woman

Dear lord. It was all I could do but crack up when I was laying there, with this foriegn woman rubbing oil over myself, thinking about Deepa's response "it was interesting" and knowing this paid-for-out-of-comfort zone experience was her first massage. We were happy to have a shower and change our clothes after that one. Ms. P - don't tell Ramanuncle we didn't like the massages - he raved about the place and goes monthly :)

Other than the massage, we had a GREAT time in Chennai and adored the little beach town. Deepa's Ramanuncle, who grew up there, showed us all around - on foot, in city buses, in rickshaws - and provided a grassroots experience. We watched the sunrise and set on the 2nd longest beach in the world! It was truly beautiful when looking at the water...the waves were hecka long (love the Cali lingo?!?!). Unfortunately it wasn't exactly a place you would want to walk without shoes because there were human feces all over the beach since it's now the bathroom for the tsunami victims who haven't sprung back yet. :(
We also went to the Malliballipuram Shore temples which were benefited by the tsumani as it uncovered a lot of new carvings and things of that nature. The temples were beautiful and were the 2nd largest carving in stone to Angkor Wat.

Went to a catholic church and I was the tour guide there. So we walked in and I noticed people were dressed rather nicely, but I just took Deepa and he Uncle to a pew and explained how to kneel and explained they could pray for whatever they felt the need to. Then, a huge camera with a big light came in and I told them that wasn't norlmal at all. Next, a bride and groom came down the aisle!!! Haha. We got out of there rather quickly :) It was neat to see, though, because in India, white symbolizes death and so the bride wore a bright red sari and a white veil.
Also, in most Hindu temples, the gods are dressed in new outfits daily, so the Mother Mary was also dressed daily in a new Sari! Mom - take notes for church :)

We left Ramanuncle last evening and are now in Mysore. Aside from the fact that we have a nice but really annoying guide, everything is wonderful. We went to Sringparam - an old palace which has a lot of beautiful old paintings and are off to see everything possible tomorrow. Items on the agenda: fruit market, local palace, silk factory, music museum.

Taj Mahal is goregous

There's not much more to say other than it is absolutely phenomenal! All of the places around it are goregous as well - so much better than China.
We're in the South now, Chennai, and are getting a tour of this cute, very religious city from one of Deepa's friends. Hope you are having as much fun as we are :) Tonight we're off to the beach, yippee!!!

Bus craziness

Who would have known Delhi would remind me of Paris?!?!? I guess it's the arc de tripmphe like gate of India and the European influenced Parliment buildings! Regardless, it was a plesant surprise to see the mixture of Indian, Arabian, and European influences in the city. It's also very easy in Delhi to escape the ever-so-scary driving and enter a park, temple, or market. We went to a goregous Muslim temple - I forget the name of course - but it was beautiful red with the wonderful dome tops, we also went to an ancient sun dial/astrology park, and did some shopping. Deepa drives a hard bargain, I tell you! It helps if I watch her bargain from a safe distance as she gets Indian prices if I am not too obviously with her!
Left Delhi to make an exciting drive to Agra - stopped to see the birthplace of Krishna and saw an amazing sight: college kids riding the bus. Now, this may not seem exciting to you westerners, but here riding the bus means you do the following:
climb up the ladder on the back of the bus with 150+ others while it is moving to avoid paying the fare.
The poor bus was about to tip over and of course we had to pass the frightening thing. While passing, I said 10 hail marys and prayed to Ganesha when we had to pass it. It is solely due to my praying that we didn't get crushed.
Now we're in the posh Taj View Hotel - read: fancy - and we are loving it. However, with the nice shampoos and lovely lounges come the downside: internet here is more expensive than a house, so I am off for a few days. Miss you all!

A sight to see

Yesterday, I took a trip to 2 Hindu temples with Deepa, her lovely cousin and her auntie. The temples were absolutely goregous (reminded me a lot of Cambodia), however they are no so much of a tourist sight.
Translation: I was the only white person for hundreds of miles .
Here are some of the comments that were relayed to me by onlookers:
A woman told a beggar child in Hindi to "Ask the white lady for money. She'll give it to you"
A transvestite said "The American lady will give you more money"
Others said "What is that white lady doing with 3 Indians?"

Children and adults stare at me. It's a riot. I have a new title: conversation starter and jaw dropper.

All is great - we leave Ahmbedad tomorrow morning and are headed to the Taj Mahal, Delhi, and Agra next. Exciting!

Top 10

hi from India! I am loving this country for all of the differences it holds from probably anywhere else in the world.
Top 10 surprises so far:
1 - cows share the road with people (no one owns them...free ranging - they are sacred in the Hindu religion)
2 - driving means you honk your horn and just go
3 - shaking your head from side to side means yes, no, and maybe (i think...very confusing)
4 - you can NEVER eat enough :)
5 - 5 people can fit on a motorbike (up from 4 in Vietnam)
6 - goregou peacocks with their feathers open are not hard to find (so pretty)...nor are monkey
7 - You say "I need an STD" when you need to make an international phone call
8 - our driver looks like the Indian rendition of the Fonz...hair, hip hugger bell bottoms and all
9 - there are rarely road signs
10 - men wielding machine guns guard temples

I am having a wonderful time - much in part to Deepa's family and friends here. Everyone is lovely and so giving. The food - literally everything we've had - has been absolutely fantastic and we've gone to dinner at a different friend/family member's house every night. I am quite lucky!
It has been fun seeing Deepa as a local celebrity! Everyone has come to see her!
Also, I couldn't contain my laughter when her Uncle and Aunt both were talking to her at the same time, one in Gugrathi and the other in English, and Deepa was desperately trying to answer both...her head couldn't move around fast enough :)

We've also seen some beautiful textiles (mom, you would have drooled) and amazing temples. More exciting news to come :) We're off to dinner at another Uncle's house.
The weight we lost in China will be taken care of here!! Email me - update me about your lives!

Language Barriers Abound

The Chinese-American language barrier is crazy huge, but the one between Brits, Aussies, and me is also quite large :)
I told our55 year old British woman traveler that I bought a really cute pair of pants with embroidery that tie on at the waist. She just looked flabbergasted at me, asked if they were small or big, and said "Oh that's nice" with an air of "Why did you tell ME that?"
When I remembered: pants in British english are undies. Trousers are our pants! We all got a kick out of that.
My British friend also mentioned that she would look like a "right tit" if she bought this crazy flower hat. Apparently it means Idiot.
I won't even get started on the issues between Chinese English and Engligh-English. IT should be noted that sign language (i.e. running around with toilet paper when you need a bathroom) doesn't work so well here and all you get are blank stares. Regardless, we're loving Yangshou. It's sort of like you are in an oven all the time (read: sweating like crazy) BUT it's goregous, the food is wonderful (farmer's wife cooked weggies for us yesterday - tasty!), and there are lots of little cafes and shops to knock around in. Last night we went on a river cruise at sunset, but on the way there, our sardine can "bus" that very uncomfortably seats 6 westerners (and seems to have the technology level associated with sardine cans) just stopped in the middle of the road! Of course the driver doesn't speak Engrish, so we watch while this man takes a bottle out of the back of the sardine can and starts running with it in this 105 degree weather. He leaves us with the car and the keys. Deepa climbed into the driver's seat and we all got a kick out of that. Turns out he was out of gas! Go figure. It was the highlight of the day.

Today we're going caving and are heading to Hong Kong on an overnight train. I am told I can use my credit card (exciting...I miss it) and that it's air conditioned everywhere!!!!! Kudos Hong Kong! WE're melting, melting, melting.

FYI - I probably won't post until we get to India the 19th. Hurrah for good food!

Engrish

Forgot to mention that "veggies" are "weggies" and Deepa is "Keeper"
Signs on our hike told us to "Becare" and we were close to the "morder" of the mountain.

We're in a lovely town surrounded by mountains now in Yangshou. It reminds me of Vietnam a lot.
Tonight I am taking a cooking class, exiting, and other events on the agenda include boating, caving, biking, Tai Chi, massages, and a light show. We're only in this town for 3 days - so sad because it's so cute - but are very excited to get to Hong Kong and then India (still not huge fans of the food...).

Deepa and I have both gotten hippie headbands and now fit in with the backpacker crowd. I even got some crazy pants that scream freak, but they will be good for Lake Michigan.

Adieux! Email me and let me know what you are up to!

Crazy Monkeys

Our stay with the monks at the Buddhist monastery reminded me a bit of Thailand and the hilltribe stays: very rustic and showers with spiders and who knows what are common. Unfortunately we had a curfew and no alcohol was allowed (remember Leslie how that helped with those bathrooms>!?!!? haha)
I absolutely loved the hiking to the monastery which was located at the top of a mountain and we saw tons of monkeys there and on the way! They monkeys here have red faces and are about the size of a 4 year old who eats too many snacks since they are fed tons of garbage food by the tourists. They are actually a little threatning and you can't have water showing or drinks showing when you walk through monkey areas! Crazy! Our hike guide had an orange juice on the outside of his backpack and a monkey sneaked up and grabbed it. He chased after it for a little while while waving his walking stick and screaming a few choice words in Mandarin. He didn't catch the mono but it did unscrew the cap of the bottle and drink it in front of his face!!! Haha. It was funny. On the hike we enjoyed great views, rivers, many trees, cicadias, and ate a yummy dinner at this older couples house (very rustic...bathroom is bascially the side of the mountain and the bedroom may be the only enclosed room) and they were so cute and sweet! They named their restaurant the "Hard Wok" restaurant which gave all of us a chuckle and they also provided us with some yummy crepe-like banana chocolate pancakes for breakfast. Mmmmm.
We also visited a nunnery and met some of the cutest kids there. They were quite good at English and were taking a drawing class in the mountains with the beautiful scenery. Their drawings were amazing - I took pictures. Two little girls gave Deepa and me some dates and so we shared some Cheerios with them. It was so funny to watch them eat them - it's extrememly western and I think it was their first encounter with them.
On completely different note, it's been funny to be in China while it is so quickly developing. It means there are constant juxtopositions of old and new. For example, while hiking in the mountains we walked past a house with chickens running around outside, thatched-type roof, falling apart walls, and it had a HUGE satellite dish on it! Haha. It also means things like the roads will be amazing (the infastructure here is quite good), but little kids don't wear diapers - just assless pants - and they poo anywhere. Middle of a town square, sidewalk, etc. It's just fascinating.
Moving on: we cruised along the Yangtze River the past 3 days and really enjoyed that as well. In the year 2009 the dam that they are building will change the landscape of the 3 gorges area a ton - we feel very lucky to have seen them before they are resolved to nothingness. They are raising the river another 150 meters within the year, I believe. There are huge signs all over with 150M on them - everything below them will be gone. A lot of the farming people are going to be displaced and the dam is very controversial, but it will be a source of tons of energy and it will control flooding.
Crazy to hear about the weird bombing things in London and just got a warning about Al Quaeda in India. Keeping my fingers crossed....Thankfully there was a cease fire in Lebanon-Israel conflict, right? News here isn't so great.
Miss you - take care! We're off to a train for the next 15 hours and then onto some small towns...not sure when you will here from me. No worries, though, we're not where the typhoon is going on.

Vegetarian Feast...MMMMMM/.

Eating in China has been not so fantastic...I think Deepa and I have managed to lose a few pounds because to us, rice gruel isn't exactly a good brekkie. Also, other dishes are not balanced (as in all noodles, or all meat, or all cooked lettuce) so we haven't really felt satiated yet. That is until we were informed of a vegetarian FEAST (as we all did...) at a goregous buddhist temple. 12 courses, none of which I have a clue of it's name, were all fantastic! There were little fake shrimps, potato based chicken, etc. It was fantastic.
Also did traditional hot pot (minus my vege roomie, tear) where you have boiling broth - we had pork and Szechuan chili, to dip in veges and thin pieces of meat. Pork, steak, lettuce, CHinese swamp spinach, etc. I TRIED the Szechuan chili broth and nearly went to the fire department since my whole body went up in flames. My lips felt larger than Angelina Jolie's! A good precursor for some of the spicy food we'll be eating in Northern India I suppose (and a fantastic remidner NOT to get a lip job...if my lips were as big as they felt, I wouldn't fit through a door).
Hot pot was a ton of fun and people who are around MI, we'll have to do it when I get back!
Went to a traditional tea house here in Chengdu and enjoyed very strong and bitter (we steeped too long...) tea on a beautiful river where local fams were renting boats. We were sitting by the willow tree a few families managed to get caught in! It reminded me of when a friend and I tried canoeing at MSU and totally needed to get evacuated from the tree we landed in! There were also the cutest kids by us whose parents had gotten them bubbles and they had an absolute ball blowing them all over. Managed to get some cute pictures :)
Saw pandas as well - very cute - and met the Olympic panda - Xing Xing. They really love them here - it's the national animal.
All in all, things are great. We are busy all the time. Too much to write about. Today we're on the way to the mountains to hike and stay at a monestary. Sadly no gambling for us there and a 9oclock curfew awaits for us.
Last note: the only western toilets are in our hotel rooms. Makes life interesting. I have assembled a "toilet perparedness kit" which includes toilet paper, dove wipes, hand sanitizer, and a rosary so I can say a great deal of prayers in an effort to avoid the many horrendous things that can happen to you in there. Next item to include: a gas mask.
We're off! Miss you! And Mrs. P - the monastery has tons of vegetarian food (actually that's all they have) so your little one will be well fed!
P.S. I think while in China I can't access any people's blogs. IN fact, I am sure of it since I have tried sooo many times, so please email me updates!
ox
cb

Terra Cotta Warriors

Did you know that the Terra Cotta Warriors are all airheads? (They are hollow!!!)
Quite an amazing sight to see....each face of the thousands is different. Some are cute, most are not. They were built to protect a king in his death chamber as he was placed in there with all of his expensive belongings.
Sidenotes: Tianamen Square is HUGE and everyone sells Chairman Mao watches with his arm moving around. Sorry, all, I didn't buy any for you.
--Tomorrow we're going to do Tai Chi in the am with locals.
--Here in the massive internet cafe filled with many gamers, DVD watchers, and online chatters, there is a man yelling "Shai Mai Shee Ai Yaaaa" which I think means he's selling green tea.
----It's rarely quite in China so far and the following things don't exist:
-crosswalks that are safe
-lines of any sort
-unpushy people
-peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (however, we can get them in India!!)

:) Won't hear from me for a few as we have a 17 hour train ride tomorrow as we officially leave dumpling land!

Concubines

Did you know that the Emperor of China had an entire wing of the Forbidden City dedicated to house his 3,000 concubines? (and they wonder why there are so many peopele here!) Also, if you are a concubine and you try to kill the king while you are concubining, he will have his people rip off your flesh over the course of three days then tie you up to 5 horses and pull you in all directions? One thing I learned: If you are a Chinese concubine, you best just do your basic duty and not pull any fast ones.
The Forbidden City was okay...felt like once you saw one beautiful building, you saw them all. There was, however, a Starbucks smack dab in the middle of it! Nearly everyone in the group treated themselves to the only cold thing in the house: Frappuccinos! It's sad how much chains (KFC, McDo, Starbucks, etc.) have broken the market here. Our guide told us that the young kids prefer the fast food to the local food. Which brings me to the next point: Local food...very meaty, which is surprising since this is a country with many Buddhists. Dumplings (dim sum) are everywhere! Breakfast is awful - rice porridge or something like that (haven't tried it...), and there are plenty of dried animal looking bits around if you are interested in a snack. Johanna they have ha flakes by the bushelful! Haha.
We're out of Beijing which is nice (very, very busy) and are in Xi'an. We've eaten in the Muslim Quarter (who would have known?!?) which means no pork, but plenty of lamb and special bread. We are doing a bike ride soon around the old city wall (they are all about the city walls here!!) and plan on getting foot massages in a few. Tonight we're onto a dumpling party - I have heard you can't get dumplings in the south of China and I hope not because I am sick of them! All is well. Looking forward to a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Mmmmm.

Ne Hao Ma

The Great Wall is just that. Great. Absolutely goregous. However, we all nearly died on the Great Wall because it poured on us for about half of our trek, but trust me, it was a blessing. You see, the rain got rid of the annoying "friends" we had that tried to sell us tons of stuff! The people will follow you for a 5 hour hike just to sell a tshirt! The person who pegged Deeps and me was an old lady (90 years old, 80 pounds) who wanted to pull me up a steep part. Nice, but no thanks! I can just see the headlines "US citizen kills innocent old lady on Great Wall." Aside from tshirts, you can also buy beer. They have to cater to the Aussie and British population somehow!
On a more serious note, we are loving China. The GW was absolutely breath taking and amazing. We hiked through 30 towers - some from the Ming dymasty and some from another dynasty. Some parts are finished, and some are not - I would have never been able to run the unfinished parts like the soldiers had to!
I think it's the only man made structure you can see from the moon and I believe it because we didn't get too far in 5 hours of diifficult hiking. It's simply massive.
Beijing is interesting...there are a lot of large skyscrapers with the traditional Chinese roofs, the people are surprisingly nice, and the language barrier is enormous. Traffic rivals the Bay Area. We went to the Temple of Heaven and were amazed at how well perserved some of the extremely old buildings are, and very bright - much red, yellow, green, blue and gold. We've also had the traditional Peking Duck dinner, not a fan, and have gone grocery shopping to find that the boxes of Cheerios here have each serving in individual bags. Love it!
The subway here is clean, people not pushy, and everything is written in English as well. They are prepping heavily for the Olympics which come here in 2008 - TONS of building, renovation, etc. Beijing is also very clean...people sweep the streets, subway, etc. constantly. Pollution is awful, awful, awful (LA times 10) BUT today we have a blue sky day (VERY VERY unusual). We'll enjoy our tour of the Forbidden City with the sun on our backs :)
Watched an acrobatics show yesterday eve. The kids were doing the most amazing things - three tiered human pyramids with 3 back tucks off of the top, running up poles and doing flips off, etc. Quite amazing!
All is well...probably won't hear from me for a few days as we are taking a train tomorrow to some village or something. Take care!!!!

Baby steps

There are a number of things I have to do now that I am back in the Midwest:
- use at least 10 products in my hair to attempt undermining humidity's GRAND effects
- wear bug spray at night or itch for hours
- wear as little clothing as possible since it's, oh, 92 and up
- pretend I remember people from HS when they spot me and insist on talking
- watch lightning bugs flutter and spark
- drive an SUV (anything beats the slow Saturn)
- drive at least 80mph on the express way
- cry and complain about Detroit's recent losses: Redwings - Steve Yzerman and
Shanihan and Pistons: Ben Wallace

I find myself baby hunting as there are 3 newbies around here that I must visit: cousin, quasi-niece, and friend's baby. Makenna, my quasi-niece (I am referred to as Aunt Catie!), is so cute and we are best friends. Pictures will be up asap.
Other than baby hunting, I have been making jewelry and reading a lot. Exciting things happening here in the great mitten state :)

Grand Mesa Fe

Santa Fe is surprisingly cute and extremely artsy. Last night we went out for a Tex-Mexy meal and I had really tasty Mole Chicken and green rice. What's the deal with that? Do they grow green rice, put food coloring in it, cook it with spinach?
Mesa Verde was also wonderful - it's very well preserved ruins from a group of Puebloan People. Apparently Anasazi is not PC anymore and I almost fell over when this very astute 10 year old asked the tour guide:
"Why did the Indians, I mean Native Americans, I mean Anasazis, oh, I mean Puebloan Poeple, trade sand stone for other rocks? Who would have wanted their rock since it's so soft?"
Haha. I like to be PC and all, but it is getting harder and harder in my old age to keep up with all of this. I hope today at the Santa Fe Farmer's Market I don't misspeak and end up smacked across the head :)
The Grand Canyon is very appropriately named...hiked for a while until the thunderstorm came and kicked everyone and their moms (me included) onto one of the very few Grand Canyon busses (can't drive in most parts there). If you think public restrooms smell, try a bus full of drenched hikers. Most from Europe. It's true: many Europeans do wear deodorant, but many don't. However, that didn't ruin the spectacular views and wonder the Canyon holds. Pictures can't capture it, but I am trying here....
(Wild Animal Park - San Diego - Amazing place!)

And it goes like this:

Shake your groove thing, shake your keys, clap three times, kick you left leg out, kick your right leg out, be ready to run at any time, scream when compelled...

I call this the "The walkway to my house sometimes has rattlesnakes. Make some noise" dance.

Times Johanna and I have done it: 6.

SeaTac and Malibu

Currently relaxing after a day at the beach in Malibu with Johanna. We managed to see a movie shoot of some kind and kept our eyes peeled for Jessica Simpson and Reese Witherspoon. No dice. We also went to a lovely diner for lunch and promptly walked out when the vege sandwiches were, oh, $15.00. We're so not So Cal!

Seattle area was great fun...my mom met up with my grandma's cousin and me wearing the brightest outfit I have ever seen (seriously...flourscent green top and printed Hawaiian jungle pants...apparently designer marked down to $9.00. And she wonders why.). After we sorted out that the outfit needed to go, we managed to eat some yummy seafood, I learned to knit and pearl, and we chatted with some of our cousin's friends who have the most interesting histories. For example, Joy moved to Oklahoma in the 1950's from NY and the KKK on her yard telling her, the Yankee, to go home. Dodie's husband worked on the first monkey to go into outerspace and their family lived in Cairo! I learned the my grandma's cousin directed the first play in Detroit of mixed races in the 1950's as well. The mixture: African American and Polish immigrants.

Tomorrow is Alex and Leyla's reception, the entire reason we're down here. CHeck out pictures of their civil ceremony in SF www.inthemachine.blogspot.com
Then Sunday, off to San Diego to kind-of start the drive back east...after we go to every park, museum, and beach we can! I will keep you posted as I can.

Endings and Beginnings

The last day of school came and passed anti-climactically and I have officially left the Bay Area to begin my soul-finding journey for a few months. Currently I find myself in my great friend Bobby's new place with my sister and his partner in the posh Pearl District in Portland.
Yesterday, we went to the fantastic Rose Garden, pretty appropriate for the City of Roses, and watched as Bobby nearly ate the roses as he smelled them with his whole face inside the floweres. Then we moseyed onto the river front and admired how Mount Hood looks over the city like an overprotective father: always present and endearing in it's own special way. In the evening, we went out for tapas and enjoyed octopus, Pisco Sours, quinoa, ceviche, and mint-salsa. Mmmmm. Today we're headed to the PO (Pacific Ocean) to avoid the oh-so-fricken-hot temps. On the agenda: frisbee, making sand castles, and throwing Vicky into the ocean when she is least expecting it. Tomorrow I am taking the Amtrack up to Seattle area and will join my cousin and mom for some more Pac Northwest Fun.

Summer Love

Anyone who knows me is hyperaware that the end of the school year is the best thing that could happen to me right now, and it's almost here! Yeah! Deeps and I are planning our travels, and have decided on China and India after Africa was totally overwhelming and expensive. It's going to be amazing and here are some of the things we are doing in China:
Half-day bicycle excursion and lunch- Yangshuo
Boat trip through the Three Gorges
Yangzte river tributary excursion
Three Gorges Dam Tour - Yichang
Lingyin Si Temple and city tour - Hangzhou
Countryside village tour - Tunxi
Huangshan
Shanghai Museum - Shanghai
Zhouzhuang town
Humble Administrators Garden - Suzhou
Master of the Nets Cultural Show - Suzhou (seasonal);
Terracotta Warriors tour - Xi'an
Ancient houses and city wall - Pingyao
Hanging Monestary
Yungang Grottoes - Datong;
Tiananmen Square and Forbidden City guided tour - Beijing
Great Wall tour and entrance fee - Beijing
Huiling and Rickshaw Tour - Beijing

Deepa has been working hard to plan India and it appears that she is doing wonderful things with that. Her parents have friends and relatives there who are going to help us out and she's making sure we see and do all the wonderful country has to offer.

In other news, the wedding shower for Leyla was a success and it was wonderful to spend the evening with lovely ladies. I love that 2 people got her raw foods books and veges wrapped up :) So cute. Weddings are excuses to get things that you normally deem excessive, like a paella pan, and cook books.

Oh and being homeless with Alex and Leyla is fun and has been really relaxing. Yeah for not having a home. Thanks!

Poo + shoe + me + Paris =

My poo experience was not nearly as funny to Vicks and me as when our dad stepped in poo in Puerto Rico, but giggles were had nonetheless. I will always remember PR as my dad scraping his shoe about 10 yards behind the fam in nearly everything he could find...tree branches, grass, gravel, lava rocks, brown dirt, asphalt, bums, (kidding about that one...)

France Pics

Mona Lisa...

...DOES FOLLOW YOU AROUND THE ROOM! That was discovered at the Louvre.
Giverney...IS goregous and explains why Monet had so much inspiration
Versailles...IS a fantastic castle and has plenty of bling for all
The Louvre...IS enormous and has enough artwork to give everyone in the world their own piece.

France was a great trip - met up with Mom and Liz in Paris. We ran around, checked out the art, Sacre Couer, French food in all of its goodness (YUM for crossaints, chocolate filled bread, escargot, dark chocolate and oeufs).

Best part: The Eiffel Tower SPARKLES for 10 minutes every hour from 9pm until midnight.
It's so special.

And the cutest little girl who didn't come to France: Makenna!!!

Good Things and Bad Things

Good things about France:
-The Parisian Metro is amazing, you don't really have to walk outside if you don't want to
-The bread is to die for and cheap
-The coffee is super strong
-The men wear tight pants
-Goregous churches everywhere
-Lots of good seafood and pastries
-To be cool, you just need a scarf and no tennis shoes
-They call McDonalds McDo
-They sell beer at McDo
-Anyone can drink anywhere
-Good wine is cheap.
-Good chocolate abounds for cheap prices
Bad things about France:
-Dog poo everywhere (police don't ticket for leaving it around as they deem that below them...yes, I did step in it.)
-Lacidasical about everything
-Everything is closed on Monday
-It's ALWAYS windy
-Massive PDA's are the norm. I think I saw babies being conceived in front of Notre Dame, and it was so far from immaculate conception.
-Banks are closed Sunday, Monday and don't deal with cash on Wednesdays. There are crazy rules like this all over. I don't know how Vicks deals.

All in all, great trip :) We're going to Monet's house today to go biking around it. Saw Paris for the first time yesterday and will return tomorrow to meet up with Mom and Liz. Adieux. Bisous!

Bonjour!

Aside from almost dying on the way to Mt. St. Michel, everything has been fantastic here in France! Vicky picked me up from the airport donning French-cheese-filled sandwiches and red wine, we meet up with her friends and proceeded to the French countryside. It was absolutely lovely – very green, lots of cows, and old, provincial houses. Her crazy French friend Oliviet organized a 25 person trip to Mt. St. Michel and the beaches around that area of this country. Everything was great - the trip to Mt. St. Michel was a wee bit treacherous – we walked for 2 hours in the freezing cold across where the ocean was coming into (at high tide parts of the day, it is completely surrounded by water). The guide almost sunk into the quicksand, then Oli was pulled out of it by 3 men when it tried to eat him, and when we had to fjord the quickly rushing water, we all almost died. BUT we made it and it was really quite pretty. The chapel at the top overlooks the water and has been maintained itself very well (it’s at least 700 years old;…).

The next day, we went to the beach and it was absolutely wonderful. In Europe, the sky gets so blue…I remember the same pretty skies in Spain 9 years ago. We walked around the little town, ate some bread (it’s the cool thing to do…), and did some shopping. The French are so laid back and seem very relaxed about nearly everything they do. EXCEPT if you are trying to use a bathroom where you shouldn’t…then they are overly aware of your presence and tell you where you can pay to pee.

Today, we went to the Musee de Arte in downtown Rouen, where Vicks lives, and she bought a “pain de chocolat” which means a crossaint filled with chocolate. It’s really, really good. I want one now, in fact. We’re going out for dinner tonight – yeah – and tomorrow head for GIverney.
SIdenote: Lots of French toilet paper is scented. AND it’s rare to find white TP – mostly pink. A far cry from my organic, recycled Berkeley tp!

Ready to go...

Thanks to Tina, I am all set in the French language category.

Some useful phrases for you... France baby, yeah! :)

English: I like you
French: Je vous aime

English: You are goodlooking
French: Vous goodlookiez

English: Will you buy me a drink?
French: Vous fera m'achete une boisson?

English: Will you move to California with me and have five children with me?
French: Fera vous transfere a California avec moi et a cinq enfants avec moi?

This just might be more interesting than I thought...

haha

News just in from my Parisian sister regarding what I should bring...
"Umm if you want to be comfy around Paris wear tennis shoes,
but it is a dead give away that you are either American or Canadian."

Pepe Le Pew

Currently, I am super excited about going to France in a few short days.
Here's my itinerary ... any other ideas world traveling friends?

Friday and Saturday - Mt. St. Michael

Sun- St. Malo and drive back to Rouen

Mon- University Tour - Rouen (let's hope for strikes....haha)

Tues- Fly by the seat of our pants...

Wed- Meander to Dieppe (northern coast) and check out the
DDay Memorial

Thurs- Ride bikes through Monet's gardens in Giverney
Night: train it to Paris and meet up with Mom and Lizard

Friday- Versaille in the afternoon with the lovely ladies and Le Louvre at night b/c
on Fridays is it open an extra 2 hours later (until 10:00)

Sat- All the stuff you can cram into one day in Paris!
Here's my list...
1 - arc de triomphe
2 - basilique du sacre-couer
3 - centre georges polpidou
4 - hotel des invalides/napolean's tomb
5 - musee de cluny
6 - musee d'orsay
7 - musee picasso
8 - notre dame
9 - you guessed right..that silly tower

OOhh I am so excited! France. Paris. Vicky, Mom, Lizzy, crepes, chocolate, beautiful buildings, art, listening to the French language, cafes, no work. Just lovely.

In other news, CONGRATS to LESLIE and BRYAN!!! So fantastic! www.puddledog.blogspot.com

Yo Yo Yosemite

Two men (one very tall man...), three women, 5 pairs of snowshoes, and a Saturn = a very interesting trip to Yosemite.
Highlights:
-walking around until midnight along a river with the huge rocks surrounding us and the moonlight helping us trip less than normal
-playing "snowshoe" rather than "bullshit" because the lodge had a lot of kids
-getting ambushed by Jess, Liam and Jaye's snowball stockpile as Owen and I tardily approached the falls thanks to my forgetfulness
-falling and thus sliding down a steep icy hill
-biting it on snowshoes and geriactrically getting up 10 minutes later
-learning about how Jessica loves crows
-using show chains - kudos to those things
-mountain men
-hot chocolate, game of spoons, and a fire-warmed lodge
-if book of questions. "if you had to _____________ (insert random question here), what would you do?"
-eating the wonderful muffins Chef Jessica made (millet-raisin-something or other). YUM!

All in all, a great time was had and it is suggested you go to Yosemite in the winter. The waterfalls are still going and there are lots less people around than in the summer.

Such a different world..

...I am actually on a corporate-call conference device right now with friends all over the country trying to plan a trip somewhere cool :) As a teacher, I didn't even realize that these things exist, services where you call a 1800 number, enter a code, and then are instantly put together with other people to talk over the phone. Wow. Cool. I need a job that has perks like this :) I am elated if I can actually make 50 copies without a paper jam, use the internet in the office without removing a 3 year-old from a game on it, or get my room sweeped (I am up to it being cleaned a total of 2 times this year).

In other news, Deepa ( a wonderful friend who I am lucky to have in my life) and I had a great talk today about traveling this summer through October. We feel that we have earned this right as we are so burned out by our current jobs and need to find the fun, exciting selves that we seem to have lost a bit of to teaching craziness. Tentatively we will be in Africa in July/August, India in September, Asia and Australia in October. Then on to get another job and make us some moola.

Things I am looking forward to:
--Visiting Vicks in April
--Skiing this weekend in Tahoe
--Potentially running a marathon in June
--Making cool things in pottery
--Getting things I ordered online in the mail
--Eating the homemade chowder my roommate is making right now!

yosemite

Hey...I want to go to Yosemite this weekend and go snowshoeing. Anyone interested? It will be fun and pretty!!!