earthling

Carlyn!!!

2011-10-21T11:31:00.002+08:00

Carlyn My DEAR FRIEND I lost access to my address book and therefore donot have your contact PLEASE PLEASE send it to me!!! I MISS YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH.
I cannot tell you how often I think of you!!
Where are you??? Oh I hope you read this!

2011-04-04T18:11:00.002+08:00

PLEASE LISTEN TO HIM!!!

2010-06-03T19:16:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fc01HalhoNc&feature=related

My first poem

2010-06-03T16:54:00.002+08:00

It has been just over a year I haven't written in my blog...after my world trip I had a lot to think about and lots has happen since I got back. I would like to start back with something I found among my stuff when I was back in Colorado in March when my mother died. It is a poem I wrote in High School for my best friend Penny.
"Times like this may come and go
but friends like you I'll never let go
you will never know what you mean to me
but a friend like you will always be
the one that I will laugh with
the one with I will cry
you will always be with me until the day I die."
I would like to rededicate that poem at this time to my mother.
I love you MOM always and forEVER!!!!

I also found something I wrote when I was first an exchange student in Taiwan in 2001:
I believe my heart is a caged bird, if you let it out it may fly away never to be seen again. But there is a chance you could always catch a glimpse of how marvelous it can be when it flies free...with nothing but wind and hope to guide it!!!

Apparently I knew myself better then than I do now! :)

Asshole Foreigner

2009-07-16T12:29:00.002+08:00

Ok so I am sitting in Warner Village near New York New York eating a beautiful Turkish Felafal wrap when all of a sudden I hear some guy yelling "NO, NO NO I told you NO spicy....oh my god NO not that one THAT one". I look over to see a white foreign man stading at the ordering counter outraged at the three young scared Taiwanese girls wide-eyed in front of him. He continued, "everytime I come here you make this mistake jez what are you stupid"...and still continued "NO Oh my god I want a NEW one yes A NEW ONE with NO SPICY can't you understand!"

At that moment I couldn't control myself any longer, I stood up and proceeded to walk towards the guys and inturrupted his oh so brutal scolding with "Hi, I am sorry but just because you don't speak Chinese doesn't mean you have to be such an asshole", and the verbal battle began...

Asshole:Fuck you bitch
Moi:Do you know where you are? Do you know what language we speak here?
Asshole: Fuck you mind your own fucking business
Moi: Why don't you go home if you so angry with them?
Asshole: What? Stupid fat bitch fuck you!
Moi: I am not sure that has anything to do with this and REALLY you shouldn't be call ME fat (guy was at least 95 kilos)
Asshole: Fuck you (at this point he gets right up into my face and does the I am going to hit you stance, and intimidation with the puffed out chest) FUCK you old bitch, why don't you just go sit down and mind you own business.
(ok for those readers who have never been to Taiwan, in Taiwan foreigners are foreigners and are foreigners, we all grouped the same here so I see this situation AS my business because this jack ass being an asshole eventually reflects badly on me, plus the poor girls behind the counter just looked like they wanted to cry...NO really I just wanted to tell this asshole a piece of my mind)
Moi: I am sorry don't mind this ass hole and please do~ (asshole inturruption)
Asshole: Fuck you bitch go sit down (right up in my face)
Moi: (I turn to him raise my hands in the ok dick head let's go stance and continued in Chinese) Ok motherfucker hit me....oh what you can't understand what I am saying. So you think THEY are stupid because THEY don't understand you, Asshole if you think it is so simple why do you leave how to say 'no want spicy' in Chinese, just three simple sylobols ohhhh you can't and you are calling them stupid well we all know who is stupid!
Asshole: Fuck you fat bitch go sit down ugly bicth
Moi: (facing the girls in Chinese) Sorry there are asshole foreigners like this here you should tell him to go home.
Asshole: I said fuck you ugly bitch!
Moi:(facing the asshole in Chinese) GO HOME WE DON'T LIKE YOU HERE, GO HOME!
Asshole: FUCK YOU
Moi: (Chinese) GO HOME!
(as I walk away he comments)
Asshole: thats right go away stupid bitch!
Moi: (Chinese) Motherfucker...

Oh well that sure was fun, hmmm I have relived that fabulous conversation over and over in my head and tried to see how I could have perhaps done more than a simple fuck you match, one of these days I will be better at handling assholes. With a world just so full of them you would think with all the practice I have had I would be better at it by now but evedently I am still too emotional and too shocked at just how big of a asshole MEN can be...
sadly signing off...

Go ahead eat MORE pork...

2009-05-15T17:10:00.003+08:00

Here are some images from my travels in Central Asia (India and Nepal)

hmmm pork chops

a little bacon with some rubbish anyone?

No its ok I am sure they LIKE eating plastic and rolling around in feces, they are just pigs right!?!

Those pork dumplings smell soooooooooo good!

to be continued...

India...not so incredible

2009-05-10T19:22:00.006+08:00

Okay so I made it out alive but I can't help but to feel confused, why in the hell do so many people love that country...
That question has been boggling my mind and all I could come up with were the following:

1: they are drug addicts
2: they never step foot out of an Ashram for long enough to see any of India
3: they stay less than two weeks and have enough money to get riped off or thieved from everyday
4: they have a tendency towards abusive relationships
5: they come from a previously closed country or one that has just recently enjoyed the frills of capitalism enough to make overseas trips possible and India is cheaper that dirt.
6: they come to "experience" poverty at its most extreme

Unfortunately or perhaps fortunately I don't belong to any of the above categories so I can't say I enjoyed the country... at all.
If you by any chance have any to add I would LOVE to hear them because I just don't get it. I believe India is a complete shit hole and shows the absolute worst of humanity that I have ever seen. Please remember that is MY opinion from MY personal experience.

As I usually do I will add on a positive note to my India saga...as soon as I think of one ;)

de ja voi

2009-04-30T19:41:00.000+08:00

This is me flashing back to Beirut with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs), then I suddenly felt at ease thinking Nepal is a poor country with poor people they can't afford RPGs...

We are all trying to figure out what to do when the group starts to split with most crossing the protest line to try their luck at transport on the other side.

The protest escalates leaving us the procrastinators to sit it out for a couple more hours.

A couple hours into the night things settle down and we see the army sitting down, and we figure this is a better time than any to make our way across to the other side...
And we make it across without incident my eight philosophical just-out-of-the-army weapon carrying new Israeli friends and I, and that was just the easy part.
When we get to the other side it was a six hour effort to get back to the town where my stuff rested. There were threats, window breaking, blackmail, name calling, negotiation, and currency exchange involved, but to make a long story short we arrive all in one piece in a nice jeep around three am.

And the next day was the Nepali new year...so I had to party like it was 2066 ;)
Because in Nepal it WAS 2066
My goddess life can be an adventure

Maoist Rebels...are you F*&%ing serious??

2009-04-30T19:17:00.000+08:00

So let me set the scene for you...

This is pretty much what I saw for three hours of the ride.

Some of my fellow travellers brought their little book of Hebrew philosophy with them and decided now is a good a time as ever to share some of it. I surprisingly love being serenaded with all that Israeli wisdom while flying round the corners on a back Himalayan road.

Some Canadians decided this was the perfect time to break open that home grown Nepali whiskey they had purchased and damn near bought out the whole store next to the bus station. My oh my what are all those Nepali alcoholics going to do without there fire water until the next truck comes?
They did share however, and soon we had flasks, bottles, plastic chai cups and everything else that would hold some liquid in it going around the top of this ready to burst bus. It was a make shift party if I ever saw one.

And only about an hour or so after the alcohol started flowing did the bus stop abruptly...and hearsay of a Maoist rebel protest brewed...

None of us spoke Nepalese, none of us knew what was going on and none of us knew what to do, but that didn't stop some people from doing something...
Some went to find the nearest liquor store
Some went to find a toilet
Some went to check out what was going on
Some went to take photos
Some got into a argument with the bus driver
and some rolled and smoked a joint
and I...well I watched the circus and couldn't stop thinking "oh fuck not another Lebanon..."

Troubles a brewing...

2009-04-30T18:55:00.001+08:00

Along the trail I kept seeing that communist sign with the tools you know...and only toward the end of the trail did I start paying more attention to them, then I found one in English which would foreshadow my next two days...

This was the road from the trail end back 4-8 hours (depending on the roads and "rebel activity" to the town where I had left my big bag of stuff.

Ok so from the trail end I walked the 13 km to the bus stop, waited in the bus two hours in the blistering heat only to give up my prize seat to a fellow snow-blind trekker. Which didn't matter as that bus broke down two hours into in and we had to make our way onto an already overly full bus...so the only spare room for a bus full of foreigners was on the top. It was ridiculously overcrowed we ALL had limbs hanging over the side and laying all over each other.

This was the seat I got...in the middle which from the next picture's view over the edge seemed not to be so bad. I didn't have to worry about pissing my pants every time we came to the edge or turned a corner.

That is a good couple hundred meters straight down on a bus that is suppose to fit 25 seated comfortably with actually about 42 passangers inside and about 27 people on top, three hanging out the door, and four hanging on the bumper out the back...and I think I am UNDERestimating the number...

Annapurna part three

2009-04-29T18:15:00.003+08:00

So this was my strategy walk as long as I could everyday and when I was tired find a place to sleep. When the trail forked just wait until someone came along and follow them. That strategy only took me so far before I realized I walked for three days in circles...so I adjusted my stategy and then every night after I found a place to sleep for the night I found a foreigner with a map and asked where we were and various other questions, then I proceeded to take a photo of the map and memorize the name of the next place I thought I could make it to the next day...Well that only worked for two days as after asking about six people to look at there maps I soon realized that all six of those maps were quite different and the names of the places are quite similar. So I adopted my last and final strategy...fuck trekking along just follow someone with a map and if we got lost blame them!
Worked lik a charm!

After six or seven days of up Up and UP the trail finally started going down and I being the insane person I am decided to mimic the "Base Camp Racers" I saw the previous day and decided to start running. Mind you those BCR they RAN from base camp to one village that would take "normal" people 2-3 days to hike in ONE day...But I still decided if they could do it, well I could too. AND actually I could too if it weren't for the bloody lady bugs everywhere and my damn Jainist ways. The whole range (below alpine) is littered with gorgeous pine forests and the ground blaketed with lady bugs. Now I am kind of a don't-like-to-kill-anything kind of girl especially a lady buy and EVEN MORE SO LADY BUGS HAVING SEX. As I was running down one mountain I was very careful where I stepped and one after another I pranced down until I was going a little fast and I almost stepped on what I saw a a good session of some lady bug love so I tried to catch my step and tumbled my lady-bug-saving ass down the mountain and cut my knee open. This is a pic of the surviving lady bugs still going at it as I became a bug-porn photographer with a swelling knee.

I continued after a short break...walking down the rest of the trail.

My fellow trekking friend who was an amazing companion to share getting lost in the mountains with! (the pole is on its way John!)

truly amazing...

The last sight of Annapurna I had before heading back to civilization

Annapurna part two

2009-04-29T17:55:00.001+08:00

Well I wasn't prepared for alpine this was true but never in my wildest dreams did I think it was going to hail?!?!?! And oh did it hail for like 3-4 hours and make my hiking through a muddy forest a lot more interesting...

It was so beautiful to watch, but many people at the lodge were also a bit upset as it was time consuming... My fellow trekkers all used their 3-4 hours very differently: one whiped out his Economist and started reading about the economic flight that the world is in the middle of over coming, another decided to comense the drinking with a couple bottles of beer, yet another decided to feast on the Nepalese delicacies of french fries and a hamburger-all the while complaining the tomato sauce in Nepal was too sweet and there were the porters and guides in the corner sipping on their milky-sweet Napalese chai. I just watched the hail through the backdrop of that magnificent mountain in awe.

Well I didn't make it to base camp...seeing as I would have two more days hiking up to more cold and steaper hauls. But I made it as far to see this incredible view and I would say it was worth it!

WWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Seeing this picture almost makes me forget the nights I was sure I was going to freeze to death in my made-for-the-tropics sleeping bag liner.

Anapurana trail

2009-04-29T17:29:00.002+08:00

As my trip to India had taken a ridiculously negative dive I decided to take a break from it all and head to Nepal to do some trekking...well needless to say I was unprepared I never intended in my WHOLE trip around the world to be anywhere even remotely cold. Well the alpine climate of the Himalayas is certainly NOT the tropics I had prepared my wardrobe for. Nevertheless I needed to go trekking and release some of the demons India brought out in me so I proceeded straight to the drop off for the Annapurna trail and I started my hike with no guide, no map, no porter and no idea really where I was going nor what part of Nepal I was even in.

(anger makes people do some crazy things sometimes)

Me starting out on the top of a local Nepalese bus...and it only got more exciting from there.

After two days of not stop UP and following women carrying baskets at every fork in the trail, the view was beginning to be worth it. This is a view laying on my bed from my room on my third night on the trail.

Waking up in the alpine morning with tropical gear after a night of freezing my ARSE off and second thinking the whole base camp goal...

A view from along the hiking trail...some where between base camp and the beginning of the trail. Four days into it and about 13 forks in the road and perhaps passed 7 or 8 small villages ( I told you I didn't have a map so don't expect names of anything)

My fourth night humble Himalayan accommodations...which I shared with a fellow trekker who without having been so nice would have seen my ass trekking the next four hours in the dark UP a mountain to get to the next available room. THANKS MATE I OWE YOU ONE!!!

Animals from the land where Jainism was born!

2009-03-15T16:33:00.004+08:00

Jodhopur III

2009-03-15T16:22:00.002+08:00

Johdopur II

2009-03-15T15:49:00.002+08:00

Johdopur I

2009-03-15T15:39:00.002+08:00

HOLI....something!

2009-03-15T15:25:00.004+08:00

My traditional meal with my host family for the lunch of Holi.

My wonderful/playful host family!

HOLI....cow?
If you look closly he played too!

The colors stain EVERYthing and when I asked about washing it off they told me sometime before nexy years Holi it becomes clean again :)

I STILL have green in my hair!~

The WC adventures in India

2009-03-07T21:10:00.003+08:00

Ok so I have been in India a week now and I have to anouce that I have yet to take a solid dump in this country... I guess someone heard me when I was preying for the shit to come out when I was constipated with worms.

Well thanks GOD but too much too late!!!

More Mumbai (Bombay)

2009-03-07T18:23:00.002+08:00

Rich kids from a privite school confortably playing criket on the "public" grounds.

The slums next to the "public" grounds where are the kids can watch a sport that would take them almost two years of begging to afford a bat (not a ball) to play with.

Most common form of transportation in India...the infamous rickshaw.

I was in a Bollywood movie as a back up dancer and some of my costars....sorry because the movie is still filming so NO pics of ANY of the scenes....The movie is called 'Blue' with Kylie Monogue. Look for me in the gold skirt and black top in the night club :)

I am sorry to all in the world this will offend. YES Indian food give you the runs like there is no tommorrow. Yes I like the poverty so as I can have a cheap meal, but YES INDIAN FOOD IS THE MOST DELICIOUS FOOD ON EARTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The 'real' slum dogs of Mumbai

2009-03-07T17:28:00.006+08:00

What can I say...

You know what I have been thinking about. We (the tourists) like this poverty, isn't that what we come here to see?!?!? If not that, we come here because it is so cheap and why is it so cheap??? Because of THIS poverty. It is actually sick really. Why don't so many millions of travellers go to Germany each year? Because noone can "find themself" in Germany...hmmm can you tell I have had a negative couple days.

I could take hundreds of photos a day of scenes like this.

How do you walk by this to work every day, or worse drive in a ferari to work by this EVERYday?

...

Around Mumbai...

2009-03-06T18:04:00.002+08:00

The hottest fucking pepper I have ever had the pleasure to taste. Honestly how is this legal!?!?!

My face for THREE HOURS after mistaking that pepper for a date. This pic was taken about 45 mins and two liters of water later. Tourist be warned!

Street girl at Mumbai bay...

Street Grandma at Mumbai bay, the girl's future perhaps... Will it ever end?

You have NEVER lived until you drive around Mumbai on a motorcycle of course if you do you MUST accept death as a serious possibility :)

views from the train

2009-03-06T17:54:00.002+08:00

Thank god I am tall. Enough said.

the only way to get that many people in the train is if at LEAST five to ten of those people have SOME kind of body part sticking out of it. Seriously.

You wouldn't believe the things that are happening as the train is going you see it all on the tracks. People collecting garbage, pissing (well that is all over India so nothing specical here), building houses, taking a shower, cows taking a nap (which explains HALF the train accidents here), and people hoping the train. It is truly amazing!!!

This was such an amazing experience really to see all the sights that you just wouldn't and couldn't see on the train tracks in other countries. About four seconds after I took this pic I put my hand down and saw a post heading straight for my head. Thank god I got my eight hours the previous night so I had my Indian-quick reactions to pull my head back in.

No seat no problem this space comes with el natural air conditioning!

If only video could do this justice...

2009-03-05T18:32:00.001+08:00

Images from the Mumbai

2009-03-04T18:13:00.003+08:00

This is the hand-rail view from a Mumbai train at rush hour.

See what I was talking about!?!?!

I am not sure if that is insulting to cancer patients, Astological Cancers, both, or just a misunderstanding... remind me to ask someone :)

I tried to ask if he (the dog) was in the ticket line but then I remembered there are no such things in India so I just walked in front of him.

A ferari in Mumbai....ummm sorry but where the fuck did that come from??

Surviving India...

2009-03-02T04:47:00.001+08:00

So one of the first people I met here was a French-Canadian who was on his way home after a three month journey accross India. In his first statements to me was an observation he had that here cows are treated better than women...
TO BE CONTINUED>>>

I had to ride the local train out of Mumbai during evening rush hour one day and it was complete maddness. I thought Japan's railways were crowded in rush hour as they even pay people, 'white hands', to shove all the passangers in so the doors can close. Well Mumbai makes Japan look like a spectators queue at an Estonian water polo match (even though it is illegal I am going to try to get a picture of this one of these days as you got to see it to believe it!). There was one point where every single part of my body was being touched by people standing next to me (and thank god for the 'ladies only' compartment so it was ONLY women who had been invading every centimetre of personal space I had!) If you want to disembark you must start to make you way to the doors starting at LEAST two stops before yours or you will NEVER make it out while the train is stoped. Most people jump on and off while the train is still moving anyway but if you haven't started the inertia flowing toward the ever open compartment doors before the train comes to a complete stop, you get bombared with the embarking herd of people on a mission from ALL the GODS to get on THIS train right NOW. My fellow lady riders were so sweet to pass on these railway survival tips to me before my stop came. One adorable little lady told me I need to go to the door "now or you'll never get off". I asked her if it was like this everyday and she corrected me to say it was like this for her twice everyday both to and from her work place. I said she must be a strong women...she responded with "here, you have to be strong".
I realized the truth in this statement as I was taking the step down from the train to the platform, the herd came against me so hard I was almost trampled. Thanks to my love of dancing I could catch my step and I gained my footing, buy only to be shoved over by the littlest, oldest lady I ever saw!! And after jumping over me she continued to move as the train started to pick up speed and that little old lady ran along the train until she took hold of the doorside bar and hung mostly outside the compartment until she made space by shoving others out of the way with her one free hand.
And then there was me...patetic, weak, young western lady kneeling on the edge of the platform in complete awe of what was just witnessed. I could only take a second to take it all in as the next crowd was gathering. As I walked out of the station battered and brusied I looked down as three street dogs who had earlier been taking a nap on the stairs decided to start their night to search for food and take over the streets of Mumbai.
Survival of the fittest...

I decided to avoid the crowds yesterday and travel back after "rush hour" I took the 11:13 PM train out of Mumbai to the suburb I am staying. At 11:13 at night the train was JUST as packed as Taiwan's during RUSH HOUR- so you could imagine my previous experience!!!

Images from Ghana

2009-02-26T14:55:00.003+08:00

I GOT WORMS...litterally

2009-02-23T20:53:00.004+08:00

As many of you know I am a vegetarian, however from time to time I do have some fish. Usually out of politeness and ease while traveling through new countries (I do realize this doesn't make me a "real" vegetarian).

Anyway, while in Cape Coast of Ghana, I partook in some fish stew, which I really tried hard to get out of trying, but as a personal favor to someone I palleted as much as I could. It was THIS stew that I have deduced to being the culprit of my intestinal infestation!

It was a fabulous experience not being able to utilize a toilet for OVER a week! My stomach hurt so bad and I felt nauseous on and off throughout the experience. Finally I caved in and excepted the fact that YES...I HAD WORMS. I got some dewormer took it and 8-10 hours later I was using the toilet like only a chile-eating champion from New Delhi would!!!

It was all this time on the toilet that I could really contemplate my life and I have since come to the conclusion to leave fish out of my diet from now on. It is funny how humans needs such serious lessons in life. And the funnier part are the locals. Anywhere in Accra you will find billboard advertising dewormer, and later I realized locals take the medicine every 3-4 months regularly... That dewormer is some powerful stuff-it is basically ingesting pesticides and don't get me started on the liver damage!

Now wouldn't it be better to find the problem at its source and solve it there rather than getting the problem and medicating it regularly?!?!?!
But sadly I found that a lot here in West Africa-people's disregard for personal health.

Is eating meat worth it? I guess for some people it is...

What a world!

Slavery

2009-02-15T15:17:00.002+08:00

woMAN

2009-01-30T03:43:00.003+08:00

I wish men could understand
I wish you could understand what it is like to be an object
to be seen with a sole purpose of a hole for procreation
understand the pain when you hurt us and the scars you leave behind
with your words, your acts, your fists
I wish you could understand the stress our bodies go through at every stage of our lives
the blood we lose
the rivers of emotions we swim through
the pain we ignore
the suffering we endure
and for what...

why do you fight for power
why can't you understand the fear you instill in us kills us slowly from the inside
why do you show indifference to the inequalities and injustices
why are we treated as worthless without you
why are we kept in the dark all the time
why are women the last to benefit and the first to suffer from mankind's makings
why are we persecuted for your mistakes
why are the rules always written by you

I wish you could understand...

hurt the way you have hurt us
experience what we had to experience
feel what we've felt
see what we've seen
bleed the same amount we have bled
and take ALL of it the way we have always taken it

and then MAN you will understand why you need to help us change this world!
___________________________________________________________________________________

This world is NOT a safe place for your sister, your mother, your aunt, or your daughter....
DO you feel good about that!?!?!

a BLACK world

2009-01-30T01:59:00.007+08:00

I am in a black world and I know that kind of sounds stupid but I could imagine being a black American and coming to Africa for the first time. Everyone is BLACK!
The law, the advertisements, the products, the society, the grocery store (well actually here the grocery stores are Lebanese :)it is all BLACK and it is just as every other place.
People go to work, cook food, raise children and die.

The streets are dirty like those in Cambodia, but the children are happy like those in Thailand.
The government is corruptible like that in Taiwan, and the fruit is as natural and fresh as Hawaii.
The men are assholes like EVERY country in the world, but generally the people are among the friendliest I've ever met.
A land where women carry their supplies on the top of their head and a baby on the back.
A land where it is virtually impossible to take three steps without treding on a piece of plastic.
West Africa- Just another place on Earth!!!

Yesterday I sat at a coffee shop drinking my Malta watching all the eclectic faces go by and I had a vision...I think one day there will be no more white people. I think humans will inevitable interbred and then we will no longer be able to use a physical characteristic to make such gaping generalizations, classifications and assumptions. Or perhaps humans will just choose something else to judge one another on.
Then there is my hesitation with all this intermingling.
My hesitation with that would be with any globalization concept-a centralized power, cultural domination (maybe popular?), economic monopolies. So I am at a dilemma-humans need to adapt to survive in a globalizing world, and in turn the globalized world is slowly killing us.
And on the other hand...diversity which is what makes this world so wonderful coming together as one, as HUMAN.

hmmm the saga continues....

When I was standing in line at the airport to exchange money, the guy standing behind me started up a conversation. He said how wonderful it would be if the world all used one currency, no more bad exchange rates, no more long ques to wait in, no more pockets full of useless coins after going through immigration (unless you donate to UNICEF:) I wanted to disagree right away with him, but I couldn't think of an argument. That is a problem I have, when I feel too strongly about things I forget why I feel like that in the first place. My arguments become emotion-based and I lose some rational processes....
Why is a global currency bad!?!?!?

Humans are truly the most amazing species, even we can see our own demise we continue on due course...Are we just too lazy to imagine a better world and way too stupid to ACTUALLY do something to make it better, or do we really think it is not possible.
I want to talk about a truly new world...one that you can't argue simply because it hasn't lived in before.

Damn it! Why are humans so difficult and blind!

I watched The Gods Must Be Crazy today and I found it quite lovely. The funny part is that humans can MAKE movies like that, write books like Animal Farm and can paint pictures like the Vitruvian Man but we cannot live in harmony with each other and our environment.

or will humans destroy ourselves first...it all depends on us I suppose!

random thoughts from Ghana

2009-01-27T22:17:00.004+08:00

The country of Ghana exists of different tribal groups, the one I have gotten a understanding of are the Ashanti people. Many people greet you with their "Akwaaba" welcome saying. I think that one is just for the tourist though as I have yet to hear them use it with each other. Right now is the dusty season or the 'hunaton'(no idea about the spelling) it is big, it is thick, it is dirty, and it is EVERY where!
I have observed the city of Accra and surrounding areas by Tro Tro (mini-vans driven by righteous, full of road rage, young, God-fearing, speed, and natural air conditioner and i swear sometimes high boys).
They are fun, however, hundreds of Ghanaians are killed every week in traffic accidents caused mostly in part, by them.
Today I saw one get stuck while the wheel spun on the dip off the pavement of the main road. I grabbed a piece of cement that had also broken off the main road and told him to put it under the tire...it worked and they drove off with a peel of the tyres and a smile on the face.

I am pretty sure the award for the coolest hair in the world has got to go to Ghanaian women...it is just beautiful the styles and creativity that goes into the hair braids. These girls got mad SKILLZ!

Everyday I feel everything as more and more comfortable but the walks through the market while every successive shop keeper yells Obruni!! will take some more time to get used to. I have figured out how to get the hard core ones to stop grabbing me. I wear a wedding ring and I put it in their face as I yell for my "HUSBAND!"-it gets them every time!

I heard people eat monkey in Liberia...so I am trying to pretend I didn't hear that...

I watched some Nigerian TV last night and I loved it. That had one that was a SITCOM but it was in like tribal setting with witch doctors and tents and all that. Another was a talk show with single mothers talking about their difficulty in life. Giving encouragement to the other single mothers.

Today I sat in a corner shop watching Oprah's Cheers to you episode while finishing my cold Malta so I could return the bottle back to the shot for recycling.
The guy sitting next to me right now is sending those e-mail scams I have been watching him while I am waiting for my exceptionally slow internet to upload a new window. He is taking lots of emails from a unmarked notepad file and sending them out. I leaned over to him earlier and said "wouldn't it be funny if one of those were my email?" ...He just looked at me__________:)

The roasting of Plantines is occuring everywhere, along every street and on the corner of every junction...it must be plantine season.

Straight up I am envious of people who have darker skin...I would love it, its just perfect for the sun and you don't have to feel like an idiot having to put on sun block every day before going out. No third degree burns on the nose, no walking ATM assumptions.
On the other hand my fore fathers could have been stolen from their village sold on the shores of Ghana and shipped to the new continent under much less than economy class conditions. I could be runing for my life with everything I own that fits on the top of my head while dogging bullets in the Congo. Could be getting BEE a job from the ANC government of South Africa. Could have had my legs cut off by neiboring tribes in Rwanda. I could have returned to my "home land" after finally obtaining my "freedom" just to come back to a place that is so strange to me that I must start nameing everything according to what IS familiar to me which is my colonial past, and start treating the locals as I was previously seen as (If you are wondering where I am going with this please see Liberia in your local encyclopedia...and if possible speak with a Liberian, even MORE interesting!)
I could also be THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!!!

Thank you for taking the time to read my random thoughts...and some not so random. If you can connect any of my thoughts have anything to add to them or and totally random thoughts of your own please don't hesitate to comment!

thoughts from a friend traveling through Thailand

2009-01-21T08:30:00.002+08:00

"The point of your activities throughout the day is not to make a living, but to make a life; not to 'work' but to create joy. If you are doing what you are doing merely to 'pay the bills,' you will have missed the major reason for All Of Life.

The purpose of life is to know and express Who You Are. If you do other than that during the days and times of your life, you will have not used those days and times
in a way that profits your soul. It is soul profit we are after here, not body profit."

What do you think the purpose of your life is???
Tell me because I would love to know!

African Goddess

2009-01-20T06:09:00.002+08:00

So I went to Labadi beach for my birthday I had to touch the ocean on the first day I am 27. The beach was so interesting...full of rastas and ALL wanted to ask the obruni women "one question". Hahaha guess you would have to have been to Ghana to understand.
Anyway, while I was there I saw four Goddesses walking along the beach, as I approached them to ask permission to take a photo, only one agreed and the next day when I looked at my camera I realized you cannot capture a real moment you cannot capture beauty, you cannot capture a feeling, a smell or even a taste, so you sure cannot capture divinity, but here is my sad attempt after a long day in the sun answering "questions" ;)

some people DO make a difference

2009-01-20T05:46:00.003+08:00

Through the girl whose house I am staying at I met a women who introduced me to a bag...but not any old bag. I was lucky enough to come across one bag that had been made completely out of trash and it was beautiful.

A gentleman by the name Stuart Gold has an NPO in Accra named Trashy Bags and he employees people to clean up all the plastic people have throw on the streets and beaches of Ghana to be washed sanitized and sew together to for a practical inexpensive and BEAUTIFUL bag. Not only that but they make make-up cases, tote bags, wallets, shopping bags (like the 'green bag'), back packs, side packs, hand luggage, and laptop computer brief cases!! You name it they can make it!!!

It is absolutely brilliant and I cannot tell you how ecstatic I was to meet him and see his amazing work.

To all my tree hugging plastic hating friends out there you got to check out his website: www.trashybags.org
This man is doing some pretty amazing things!

And what have YOU done to help our beatiful world today?????

AFRIKA

2009-01-19T05:05:00.001+08:00

Below the surface...It is a whole different world!

The Rainbow Nation...

2009-01-18T07:10:00.000+08:00

Departing south africa was a mixed bag. There is a heavy racial cloud that still hovers over that land, some would say it has even gotten worse. To be honest there were many times I felt anger while I was there because I could see the potential in that country. It is massive it is beautiful it is rich of everything- natural resources, wildlife, diverse people, culture...and the list goes on. Yet it seems to all be crumbling away. Some I have spoken to blame it on the ANC, in fact there was even a advertisment along the highway that was pushing people to vote for the ANC, with a proud picture of Zuma next to the slogan, "working together we can do a lot more" and was enhanced at the hand of an urban artist to say, "working together we can do a lot more...CRIME"!
And that is how many feel, the ANC buys votes with houses among the uneducated. The polygimist Zuma is up for serious charges of rape and when asked if he was worried about having unprotected sex he responded with "Well no because I took a shower afterwards". There have been reports that his body guards have shot at people who have not pulled over while trying to overtake them. ...the NEXT PRESIDENT OF SOUTH AFRICA, does the country stand a chance?? Or is it going to be another Zimbawe...Hard to say but what I can say is that I heard from MORE than one white S. African trying to explain how much better things were before, well DUH!?!?!? You are white of course it was better for YOU! Crime has risen, rape is much more common, and more people are dying of AIDS...I can see an argument (not a justification mind you but everything is relative)

Because of my confusion and insufficient time to gain a deeper understanding I had to buy some reserch material to take with me.
One day while wondering the "unsafe" streets of a suburban neiborhood outside Cape Town I came across a book entitled "For Whites only" by Charles Cilliers, with the cover picture of a white guy pissing on a pan labled 'reconciliation'...it caught my eye. I picked it up and read the back ...
"Everything in South Africa seems to be about race. If you look back at the country's history, you'll see that it always was that way. Ours is a counry defined by race, but there is one race that had the choice to make it that way. Heading for fifteen years into democracy, South Africa seems to be even more about race than ever. The rainbow nation sometimes seems more like a technicolour dreamcoat-after Joseph's dipped it in blood.
This book has been written for all the whites who secretly, or not so secretly, believe tha the reason our country is going to hell is because of the blacks. Read this book-our country was hell. With every year that's passed since 1994, it has edged further from the flames. We're all still carrying out lighters through..."

Well I just had to buy it and the funny thing, it is written by a white guy. I am currently on page 37.

But I must say apart from the internalized fear of being raped, stabbed and carjacked I had quite a positive visit. I owe a lot of that to a fabulous friend there who really helped me to see as much as I could.

After returning to the Cape from teaching English in Taiwan for five years Walter, my friend found himself fed up with all that was/is going on in his part of the country and has decided to start an independence movement. If you are interested or have any questions just let me know I can pass them on. The movement is call Cape Independence Party.

However the situation ends up I wish peace and happiness to ALL!!!

Life is Funny!

2009-01-16T08:48:00.002+08:00

So the story is that I was supposed to leave South Africa on Friday, well as fate has it I missed my plane (first time in my life by the way). Well I had bought a Round the World ticket and one condition is if you miss one of the flights ALL your tickets are cancelled...I was devastated. Especially because I had JUST spent way too much money to change the date of my flight. After the oh so polite (NOT) clerk told me I cannot board the plane (although the gate was still open and people still boarding) I cried and cried. Then I went outside to get myself together to figure out what to do. When I went outside, two white t-shirt jeans, no bags, shady guys followed me (Joburg airport is infamous for robbery). I sat down against a wall with my bag, and I thought fuck it if the rob me at least the police might have some sympathy and help me argue to get my tickets back.
As I sat there I couldn't help it I just started balling out tears. As I sobbed the two guys after talking for a minute or two and looking over their shoulder at me and then decided to go back inside. So no sympathy from the police. I decided to call the girl, Claudine, that I had been staying with in Joburg. She drove all the way back to the airport to pick me up and housed and fed me until I figured out what to do. (until I finish my trip and use the rest of my tickets I don't want to publish how I got around the whole problem...as news over the Internet travels fast these days :)

This picture was taken minutes after I got my boarding pass to Accra to continue my journey.
Thanks Claudine and good luck to you in your adventure to Guatemala on Tuesday!!!

I LOVE THAT LITTLE MONKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And if there hadn't been security I would have stolen it to raise it as my own...

The SA WILDlife

2009-01-14T08:07:00.004+08:00

I have NEVER in my life seen something so adorable and this Pygmy monkey. It was the most precious thing, I just held him and fell in LOVE...even the keeper said he saw the love in my eyes...can you see it?

Okay, now I know some are you are thinking what is up with this picture, well if it is not immediately obvious-THIS IS TIMON!!! From the Lion King...DUH!

This is the infamous "rape train". I was told by everyone how dangerous it is to ride this train...well for those of you who know me well, could I have NOT ridden it?

You can also see my sad attempt at incognito with that black hoody. If must have worked because the two and half nerve racking train ride just flew by without incident. But can you see the vigilance in my eyes?

I took this one just because I haven't totally grown up yet. This is a Christian book store selling discounted bibles...oh CUM ON YOU HAVE TO LAUGH AT THAT, and this sign is not even IN ASIA!!

Oh it keep me smiling for DAYS...

Have you ever seen a wild ostrich walking along the beach???
Because I have and I wonder if they can swim hmmm, I should have asked him.

WOWs from SA

2009-01-14T07:47:00.006+08:00

They are MAN-eaters don't let those big beautiful eyes fool you. This one took half my finger while I was trying to feed him. He obviously never heard the saying "don't bite the hand that feeds you"!

Me in front of the magnificent 12 apostles (famous mountains in Cape Town)

Here I am where the Indian and Atlantic oceans meet...if you look carefully you can actually see the line.

Cape point statistics....pretty impressive huh?

This was so cool...one month ago I was there in Rio, Brazil and today the southern tip of Africa, the world can be so small!

can you imagine?

2009-01-07T20:16:00.004+08:00

The Pencil test:
'During the system of apartheid in South Africa, one drop of sub-Saharan blood was not enough to be considered black. South African law maintained a major distinction between those who were black and those who were coloured. When it was unclear from a person's physical appearance which racial classification they belonged to, the pencil test was employed. This involved inserting a pencil in a person's hair to determine if the hair was kinky enough for the pencil to get stuck. If the pencil remained stuck in a person's hair, the person was "black". This type of test was used by authorities during the apartheid era in South Africa to "ascertain" a person's race (see Coloured and Passing (racial identity).) In the absence of any centralized method, this and other subjective tests were used in various places across South Africa as part of the Population Registration Act of 1950. A pencil would be placed in a person's hair, if it fell through they were classified as "White" (or "Coloured", depending on other subjective classification considerations); if the pencil did not fall through, they were classified differently ("Coloured" or "Black", also depending on other subjective classification considerations). Members of the same family who had different hair textures would find themselves in different race groups as a result of this test. This presented serious consequences for many families.'

Humans can be so smart at times and ridiculously stupid at others.

The Western Cape

2009-01-06T07:13:00.003+08:00

A small fishing village north west of Cape Town. Famous for crayfish, lobster and what appears to be Greek style architecture.

Another beautiful overlook while crossing one of the passes on our way back to the R27 coastal road.

South AFRIKA

2009-01-06T06:48:00.009+08:00

An ostrich egg-big as my head, hard enough to jump on and equal to around 24 chicken's eggs.

My friend trying to get mobile phone reception from atop his land rover.
Gotta love South Afrika but gotta hate the telecom mobile phone service, expensive as gold and no-where to be found.

The Road inland from Cape town through the wine region. One of the most picturesque drives I have ever been on.

An overlook on False Bay... simply breathtaking!

2009 New Year celebration at the southern tip of Afrika with my good friend I met in Taiwan-Walter

Cuz that's what friends are for!

2009-01-06T06:25:00.002+08:00

My very good friend, Francis and I at the airport just before I board the plane to South Afrika.
I really appreciate all he showed and taught me during my second visit to Brazil.
Thanks buddy I will never forget your hospitality!!!

Francis and his family own a vegetarian restaurant called Laranja Melhor in Sorocaba (about 40 mins-depending on traffic-from Sao Paulo). While staying with his family I helped out at the best restaurant (veggie or not) I have ever eaten at, and I am not just saying that because the owner is my friend. You gotta try this food! (Rua da Penha, 999-Sorocaba/SP)
This is a pic at the restaurant with Francis' brother who I call 'Boss', Patricia and I working hard. :)

Everywhere you look in Brazil you see gorgeous sky. You must go there (eat at my friend's restaurant) and see it for yourself.

This was such an interesting tree I couldn't pass up taking a photo of it and being a tree hugger I had to pay my respects.

Sao Paulo in Taiwan or Taiwan in Sao Paulo

2008-12-28T06:19:00.002+08:00

I thought it was funny because this whole time I was in Brazil I spent all my time with Taiwanese, actually I even think my Chinese improved! Anyway, it was so interesting to see and meet all the different people who immigrated to Brazil from Taiwan. Their community was great and extremely welcoming. I even got a chance to eat my favorite Taiwanese vegetarian instant noodle while some of Francis' friends and girlfriend and I went on a road trip to Paraty. This pic was taken at a Taoist gathering in Sorocaba...or was I really in Taiwan....I can't really be sure ;)

What can I say except the most post card perfect clouds I have ever seen!

This is the view of one of the islands we visited while on a tour boat in Paraty during our road trip there. I swam and swam and swam, even the rain couldn't stop me. And even with the rain it was still a absolute beautiful experience! I was deemed the mermaid of the boat by fellow travelers from Sao Paulo.

Have you ever seen a bigger butterfly, because I haven't! God I can't wait to go to the Amazon!

This was the view of Sao Paulo from my window on the plane... no wonder traffic is a nightmare here...this went on as far as the eye could see in ALL directions from the airport.

moments from Argentina II

2008-12-25T23:19:00.002+08:00

Fellow couch surfing getting some twirls in at a Cultural Center and Art Gallery in down town Buenos Aires.

Mariano's artistic eye.... the eye of a future artist and my good friend!

moments from Argentina

2008-12-24T23:09:00.001+08:00

Reflections from Evita's famous tomb in Buenos Aires

Bored artists/photographers in a classical cemetery....

don't ask!

four creative eyes
three new friends
two great hearts
one fantastic world!

At the end of the day I am still somewhat of a tourist so here is my tourist pic of me in the middle of the biggest street in the world- 9 de Julio Avenue- named after Argentina's independence day.

amigos en argentina

2008-12-23T08:43:00.001+08:00

What can I say....I love these guys!

middle of the day, no rain, circle rainbow around the sun???

2008-12-22T09:11:00.000+08:00

One day while I was in Quilmes the place I was staying outside Buenos Aires I looked up at the sky and I saw this circle rainbow around the sun. I have never in my life seen such a sight. It wasn't until weeks later when I was in Sao Paulo talking with a friend about it did I realize that it was a bad sign. My friend said they talked about it on Brazilian news and how it had something to do with the air pollution and the green house effect.
interesting...

reality check!

2008-12-21T21:45:00.003+08:00

I have fought with myself as to whether or not I should write this... after lots of consideration I believe it is very important to publish. I do not want everyone who reads my blog to think life is perfect. There are many things that happen behind the scenes and most women keep quiet. I also would like to note that this is a man's world and shit happens when women choose to venture out in it. Here is ONE of my stories...

It was my third day in Buenos Aries and I was staying in a youth hostel in an older side of the city. The night before I had been talking to one of the seven roommates sharing the dormitory room I was in in which I was the only female. I was talking to a Turkish-Canadian about traveling, life, and religion (a conversation that makes traveling worth while). Staying in the same room was also a Canadian co-worker of mine from Taiwan. We all went to bed as usual. The next morning while I was still sleeping a local man who had checked in later the previous evening found it necessary to disturb my personal privacy. I felt his hands on my body and at first I thought it was a dream, until I realized I was conscience but I didn't dare open my eyes. I just laid there in disbelief. Maybe a minute or two or maybe even three had passed before I convinced myself that this was actually happening, here in a room with seven other people less than four meters away. And you know what my first though was.....I didn't want to scream because I was afraid to be rude to wake everyone else up.

Then I felt him and then I felt sick, like throwing up and I couldn't control myself, I opened my eyes looked right and him and started screaming, something along the lines of "Fuck you get off me you mother fucker". He immediately pulled away and started saying "no pasa nada, nada ...." and then started grabbing his stuff. As he went down stairs my roommates stared waking up and asking what had happened. I couldn't figure out what I wanted to do. I really wanted to pick up a wooded chair that had been next to the window, walk down stairs and break it over his fucking head hoping to cause as much pain and damage to his ugly face as possible. But the funny thing as much as I have said that is what I would do...I couldn't, I didn't have it in me.

Then to my surprise he was upstairs again to get the sheets off the bed. Many places in South America require you to turn your sheets in before checking out. Also at this particular hostel the door is locked from both the inside and outside and requires a button behind the front desk to be pushed in order for it to open. So I ran past him down the stairs and told the man at the front desk that there was a man touching me when I woke up. He asked me what room I was in and I said #7 and he said there was nothing he could do about that. I ran back up stairs passing him (the asshole) along the way. When I got to the room the Turkish-Canadian ask what was happening and I told him what the front desk clerk had said. He immediately went down stairs and told the clerk what happened. The clerk thought I told him the "sun was touching me when I woke up". I soon grabbed my knife and went down the stairs again. The clerk looked scared and asked me if I was okay. I responded quickly with "of course not". He called the police and wouldn't push the button to open the front door to let him (the asshole) out. Meanwhile the man was standing at the door about five meters from the front desk where I was standing. He started smoking a cigarette and pacing back and forth. Twenty minutes later while the police were still not there the men went to the upstairs bathroom window to try to get out. All I could think of was how a caged animal acts. With my hand on my knife standing next to the desk with the Turkish-Canadian beside me we waited for more than forty minutes before the police showed up. And when they finally did, their first questions were "where do you come from?" What happened?" and "Were you sleeping nude?".

After another hour of the same three questions the stood there for five minutes looking at me and then asked what I wanted to do. I returned the question with "What can I do?" They told me I can go down to the police station and file a report. So I did. Accompanied by coworker we rode to the police station to wait for another three hours. Then interviewed me in the waiting room in front of everyone, with a man interpreter and a male officer. The questions included, how did he touch you? did you feel anything, like a sexual feel of arousal (I am not kidding), what were you wearing, where were the other people sleeping in the room, why was I the only one awake? which hand did he use? what did I say to him? was I awake when he first started?

After they got my statement. They told me that I need to wait for the department who handles this kind of case to have a consolation with me. They told me they just contacted them and they are on their way. Less than ten minutes later two women walked into the station the policemen introduced us and they immediately brought me into a private room gave me a glass of water and asked to tell them anything I wanted whenever I feel comfortable to talk. I told them everything. They asked if I have seen the doctor yet. I said "no" and told them that I had just been in the waiting room for the last 5 hours. Within five minutes we were in a car on our way to the doctor in the Department of sexual violence and abuse.

After all the necessary check ups and required tests I was free to go. They took me back to the hostel and I took a shower and when I went downstairs the police were there again. They wanted to get some statements. They wanted to question my coworker who had been waiting in the station with me earlier that morning for a total of 6 hours doing nothing. The front desk staff had already changed and gone home and they wanted to interview the other people sleeping in the room. The incident happened at about 5:30 am, Check out being 11 am, and that current time was about 3 p.m. the only one possibly available for questioning was my coworker from Taiwan a good friend of mine and who had already wasted 6 hours of his vacation at the police station. The police then so politely informed me that it would be difficult to make a strong case without any witnesses. Well I appreciate their honesty. ASSHOLES!

The positive thing:
I couldn't bare staying in a hostel again so I tried for the first time this website thing called Couch Surfing.com. I had been in touch with some guys in Quimes (near Buenos Aires) about a place to stay for about a month and knew their friend from the internet as well. So I thought what the hell...what is the worst thing that can happen....I get raped??

So I called them, they came to pick me up and by 4:30 I was in the car of what I would later find to be some of the coolest guys and best friends of my life on our way to Quimes. I stayed with them for the rest of the duration of my stay in Argentina and I think there wasn't a moment I didn't smile. They taught me about real love, real happiness and real peace.

Thank you Mauro and Federico!

Oasis

2008-12-19T01:45:00.003+08:00

I absolutly LOVE the following quote. I think Albert really summed it all up with this one! However, please excuse his exclusive use of the pronoun ´he´. As smart and enlightended as HE was ....HE was still and MAN and thus doomed to error. So ladies just imagine that every ´he´, ´his´and ús´ACTUALLY includes you as we women have always had to do. Anyway, enjoy the quote!

"A human being is a part of the whole called by us the universe. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a prison restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons close to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from our prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all humanity and the whole of nature and its beauty."

-Albert Einstein

I love my life.

2008-12-17T00:54:00.003+08:00

Why:
Why not.

Every moment of every day is a treasure. One that cannot be replaced, relived or reproduced. It is original and yet.....it is just what everything has always been and what will always be, all is the same it is constant.

Interesting book:
Synchro Destiny
-Deepak Chopra

Finding Jesus in Rio...

2008-12-13T06:21:00.001+08:00

Moments from South America...

2008-12-13T00:23:00.011+08:00

Oh where in the world to find a great friend, looking for Jesus near the lagoon in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil...one I´ve known my whole life and just relized it!

An iteresting and intising advertisement in Buenos Aires for whats sounds like a social PARTY!!!

Did I mention that I love this place!

Argentinian side of the most beautiful falls in the world!!! You couldn´t have pulled that smile off my face while I was wondering through fall after fall.

2008-12-13T00:11:00.002+08:00

Foz de Igauç...Huge massive falls one after another after another...

Brasil side of the falls. I couldn´t help myself I just had to go under them and it was the best shower of my life.

The bluest blue cave I have ever seen in Bonito, Brasil

I saw a real live toucano(Tocan) flying in the wild....a fantastic day with rainbow macaws and all...

At copacabana beach Rio, Brasil baby!! Four hours later and I found my new home!

Obama Baby!!

2008-11-06T09:36:00.002+08:00

So as some of you know I have a US passport and that gives me exclusive voting rights in that oh so capitalist country. So I decided to exercise those rights of mine and head to the mainland to vote for change. I registered in Colorado back in the beggining of the year as I heard it was going to be a swing state. So I arrived a couple days before the election and signed up to do what ever I could to help "that one" elected. I was even able to see Michelle Obama speak and boy was that a blast! On election night I headed to a party of a local politition, who also won, to celebrate what I knew was going to be a day for the history books. I cried oh did I cry. I cried the first time I ever heard him speak, about a year ago. I couldn´t believe it. I knew then what I know now, that he President Elect Barack Obama is a very special human!! I am soooooo pround of America, but she has a long way to go to get back any sense of a decent reputation. This is the first step on to a very long but very essential road. Good Luck and may Barack bless ALL the WORLD!!!

HOME SWEET HOME

2008-10-28T04:52:00.001+08:00

Create your own visitor map!

Is it???

2008-10-24T10:56:00.001+08:00

tis nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune...

searching for L' Arcadie

2008-10-17T13:32:00.002+08:00

Over the last couple months I have been planning and plotting a trip. I have realized lately that I need a change, a dramatic one. And I know what some of my friends are thinking because I travel to quite interesting places many times a year already but, I need a shock to wake me up and what better place to find that shock then in the three continents I have yet to go.
I have set out on my journey, as many would say of a lifetime but I say 'of a usually Tuesday in the life of Kristina'.
So this is the plan: South America, Africa, and India starting out with a trip down memory lane to Hawaii. Originally I was going to try and meet my father here in the beautiful islands but life doesn't always work out the way you want so I am here solo and my dad is ALWAYS with me in spirt.
I had a hell of a time with my ticket changing sometimes three times a day but alas I am finally here and been here since the 8th.
Now, what have I done....beach... nothing....watch MTV (OMG) ....beach.....eat chocolate....met interesting people.....nothing....had some great smiles with my GREAT sista Diva......swimming....chocolate....
That about updates me to this point as I am currently waiting for my Brazilian and Indian visas. If any of you have any suggestions for how to pass my time here I would love to hear them.

AROUND THE WORLD

2008-10-17T13:25:00.001+08:00

Mark you took the words right out of my mouth!

random thoughts

2008-09-23T13:37:00.002+08:00

People consume more becuase of lack of satisfaction. So buy, obtain, and keep MORE stuff, but what people are really lacking is space.

People's economic class is directly related to the sports they play. Golf- needs lots of equiptment lots of space and time. Futbol- one round object and lots of people.

The newest thing to market is conveinence at the cost of the organic Earth. We need an ORGANIC day!

I like to keep the best for last and therefore have the chance to 錯過.

HIS..story repeats itself!!!

2008-09-23T13:18:00.004+08:00

"Where justice is denied and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organised conspiracy to opress, rob and degrade them neither persons nor property will be safe"-Sumerian

There is some synchronicity for ya!

2008-08-31T22:09:00.015+08:00

So okay I had that horrible experience and no matter how much I hated a person I would not wish that upon, not even Bush... so you can imagine the pain. Anyway, after I came back and I told one of my friends the story the next day it happened to a women in the South of Taiwan who was sleeping on the floor. She described the pain as worse than child birth!!! WORSE than child birth mind you and according to the international pain chart, child birth is one of the most painful human experiences. Alright!! Some justification for crying like a baby and screaming like a girl all the while snot coming from my nose and blood from my ear. So I just wanted to share with you all this amazing story!

Man, I wonder how often this happens?!

By the way MY BUG WAS BIGGER!!!!

Hands down...WORST experience of my life!!

2008-08-31T22:09:00.008+08:00

Okay so it all started on a Friday morning. I have a wonderful night and woke up early to do some yoga I had just learned. After my morning exercises I took a lovely shower and was able to wash my hair oh so clean for the first time in three days (dirty hair, the downside to backpacking). Any way I get a knock on my door from Free (my friend) wondering if I am ready to go down town for breakfast as we are both starving from not yet having breakfast. So I finishing getting my stuff together and head to the main bungalow to where Free had parked the motorcycle. He was there waiting patiently as his, and my stomach were both screaming at this point. My hair was wet and I really didn't want to put on the helmet but as Free and I had argued about the safety of a plastic styrofoam cap on my head before but still I reluctantly put it on.
We got on the motorcycle and were finally off to a beautiful organic Thai meal when about one minute down the road I felt something crawl across my ear...I tried to brush it away and as soon as I realized that it not only didn't brush away but crawled directly into my ear, I started screaming. Now I consider myself a pretty strong person, I mean not to brag but I have been through some crazy situations including a civil war in Lebanon just four months ago, but this was a yet to be experienced pain until of course that moment. I immediately started screaming and practically fell off the side of the motorcycle. Free keep saying "what's wrong, what's wrong" and in between my screaming I managed to get a "a .....ahhhhhh oh ......MY GOD.......a ...........ahhhhhhh.......bug......OH GOD .......in my EAR....AHHHHHHH!!!" All I could focus on was the scratching in what seemed like the middle of my head. Again in between my screaming I told Free to take me to get my tweezers to pull it out. I jumped back on the motorcycle and as soon as it accelerated the wind must have freaked the little critter out because I felt this INTENSE push for the finish line type action DEEPER into my ear and in my head so needless to say I sort of fell off the side of the motorcycle again and told my friend I would walk. This is where it gets a little hazy for me. I remember walking a few steps and then feeling this ridiculous pain that inhibited me to take another step, then it would subside for a second or two and I tried to start again this time faster, then the pain came back even greater. So great in fact it made me drop to my knees. This time no continuing no getting back up. Next thing I knew I was on the ground tossing and turning like a hysteric drunkard or something. All the while screaming like I have NEVER screamed before and I mean this is scream that you could only hear in the worst of horror movies. And all I could focus on was the scratching sound and I suppose the screaming was my was of trying to drowned it out. At this point there were other standing around me flipping and flopping in the middle of a back road in the small town of Pai in Northern Thailand. All I could say was "Please AHHHHHHHH...help ........ahhhhhhhh ME.....get it out get it out...AHHHHHHHHHHHHH". Next thing I hear is one of the onlookers ask my friend what drugs I was on, after my friend so politely answered that I wasn't ON ANY DRUGS, they then decided to pour water in my ear. Without hesitation I disagreed. First of all I am enough of a nature girl to know that water does not kill bugs very well, and two if I were in some place and something that I don't like is coming from one direction...well I am going to go the other way. In the state I was in I had no chance of wining that argument will my only response as "no please no AHHHHHHHHHHHHH oh GOD it hurts PLEASE AHHHHAHAHAHAHHA!"
So the water was poured and the bug was crawling into what was I felt the side of my throat. Finally, after rolling around for maybe 5 or 10 minutes on the street and scratching up my legs and arms, the owner of the bungalows can down the hill because he heard the screaming. My friend told him to get the car to take me to the hospital. This part also a little hazy, NO not because I was on drugs but that I was crying so intensely and my head in such a state of shock that my eyes were swollen. I remember (sort of) Free shoving me in the car and closing the door. I was going from one side of the car to the other kicking screaming, pulling and hitting my head (actually no wonder why everyone thought I was on drugs). Jae, the owner and who was driving at this time just kept telling me "you be okay, just one minute". Boy that was THE LONGEST ONE MINUTE OF MY LIFE!!!
The car finally stops I open the door and fall out...I haded realized it was a HUGE hammy truck that you needed to step out of. The ER attendant was there bed ready I was pulled onto it and that is where it really gets fuzzy. Time passes and then I feel intense clawing and the sound like you just wouldn't wish on your WORST enemy. Then I hear a suction sound and the immense clawing that followed, and I knew this thing was going to fight as hard as it could for its life. The suction stops, with maybe it was four people holding me down then start cutting off pieces. At first my friend was expecting you know like a "regular" size bug, but the pieces kept coming, a leg a wing. Then the suction again... they went back in with tweezers and pulled half of it out including the guts. At this point my friend secretly thought "is that her ear??" Meanwhile, me, still screaming loud enough and strong enough mind you to grab the attention of the ENTIRE hospital. I felt like this would never end. Cutting, scratching, sucking, screaming, clawing, screaming, cutting, sucking, scratching, bleeding, screaming, clawing, screaming, screaming, screaming, then all of a sudden the pressure holding down my body was gone, but that feeling and sound still remained.
They had pulled out a little over two centimeter bloody thing that could only be physically described as a FUCKING HUGE FLYING COCKROACH of some sort. My friend said when they pulled it out it was still living and started crawling back towards me, guess it liked my ear-lucky me! He finally smashed it and they took it away. I kept screaming. I tell you I still felt something there some thing crawling something inside. My friend said it was over and I kept crying kept telling him to check again. "Please God just let them check again oh plllllleeeeeeaaaase ahhhhhh I can feel it oh please ahhhh." After about 10 minutes he FINALLY got them to check again and nothing. Both he and the nurse checked so you think that I could finally feel at ease... Oh no, ease came about hmmm lets see that happen on Friday the 22nd of August and today is September 1st well I guess you could say I still don't completely feel at ease but at least the headache, ear pain and feeling of an intruder deep in my ear went away after about five or so days. But that sound, that sound of scratching 10 times worse than nails on a chalk board, that immense clawing at what only felt like the middle of my brain...well I still hear that from time to time and it intensifies every time I see a large multi-legged little creature around. But I will get over it, one day!

So the moral of the story (multiple choice):
a) Don't go outside without earplugs.
b) Don't go to Northern Thailand in HUGE Flying Cockroach season.
c) Always check your helmet before putting it on.
d) Don't piss off the HUGE Flying Cockroach Gods.
e) Fuck it, shit like this is hard to prevent and I should chalk it up as a good "Guess what happened to me in Thailand story!"

Elephant Bliss...

2008-08-21T21:44:00.003+08:00

Mom, all I could think of was you at this moment!

Sending you ALL my love from Pai, Thailand!!!

Pai in the sky!

2008-08-21T21:32:00.004+08:00

Chillin' here eating dragon fruit and taking pure raw shots of wheatgrass in Pai, northern Thailand with my friend Free. We went on this couple day amazing rafting trip followed by a river bath with an elephant.

Going to Thailand ..(again) and perhaps Myanmar

2008-08-11T17:12:00.003+08:00

I am taking a short trip to see my wonderful friend Free in Pai northern Thailand. I really need a good cleansing vacation so I am looking forward to it. I would also like to mention a wonderful gathering I attended at another very good friend of mine yesterday.
我認識新的朋友. 太好笑我新朋友(台灣人)教我一個英文字...太利害 (我有一點丟臉) .
Francis gracias por compartir la casa del Coco conmigo!
Mi casa es su casa tambien!

吃素!!
eat vegetarian!!

EMIC VS ETIC

2008-08-10T00:46:00.002+08:00

anythoughts??
任何人有看法??

我就是我

2008-08-10T00:34:00.002+08:00

我就想給大家看我看得到的世界. 我不會說沒錯的話也不是生活的專家. 我就用自己的經驗跟或觀察給你了解我的部份. 如果不同意的話我很歡迎你的評論. 我沒有假裝我說的話是對的,簡單的我的遠景.

running through my head

2008-08-09T23:29:00.000+08:00

I have decided to start recording my thoughts for my fellow humans to read at liberty. I have had an interesting life thus far and would like to share some of my experiences and observations. I welcome people to disagree with me. I don't pretend to know everything in the world I only think I know what I do based on my experiences and observations. If you differ in any way shape or form than me well thank goddess that globalization hasn't gone that far.